Blue Jays vs. Pirates Prediction and Odds for Saturday, September 3 (Contreras on Mound Gives Value to Pittsburgh)
By Josh Yourish
The Toronto Blue Jays took Game 1 down in Pittsburgh, as Alek Manoah had a great start, shutting out the Pirates 4-0.
Pittsburgh looks to bounce back today with Roansy Contreras on the mound, but things do not look good for the last place team in the NL Central.
The Blue Jays give the ball to Trevor Richards as they try to capitalize on a weak spot in their schedule and lock up one of the wild card spots in the American League.
Blue Jays vs. Pirates Odds, Run Line and Total
Blue Jays vs. Pirates Prediction and Pick
Roansy Contreras has given Pirate fans a sliver of hope since coming back up from Triple A. In three starts in August he allowed six earned runs over 18 innings with his last start being a five inning shutout of the Phillies. In that outing, he had seven strikeouts to just two walks and if he can maintain that K/BB ratio then he should be a successful starting pitcher considering his stuff, but many times this year he has issued far too many walks.
The fact that Roansy is starting for Pittsburgh and the Blue Jays are giving Trevor Richards the start in an opener role has swung the odds towards the Pirates a bit more than you would typically expect. The Blue Jays' bullpen will try to keep the PIttsburgh offense in check for the second straight day.
Toronto has the 13th best bullpen ERA in the league at 3.74 and while that is certainly not a dominant unit for the Blue Jays, that is still better numbers than Contreras has and it may not be a bad thing.
Let’s be real about this, Pittsburgh is a disaster and if we’re getting extra value on Toronto’s run line then take it and say thank you.
PICK: Blue Jays -1.5 (+100)
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