How can anyone consider the Blue Jays tonight?

The Blue Jays return home tonight after a road trip through Houston and Philadelphia that also saw them forced to give up a scheduled day off to instead fly to Chicago and make up a game that had been rained out on June 21st. These Blue Jays have played five tense games in a row with four of them going into extra innings. The entire weekend series in Philly was loaded with drama, as were the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings of that makeup game at Wrigley Field, as was their comeback win in extra innings to win the series in Houston last Wednesday. 

The Blue Jays used at least 4 relief pitchers in every game of the road trip. Braydon Fisher and Brendon Little were used 5 times. Mason Fluharty and Tyler Rogers were used 4 times. Spencer Miles, Louis Varland, and Lazaro Estrada were each used three times. Estrada pitched in every game vs the Phillies. Fisher and Miles pitched in both extra inning thrillers the last two days.

The bullpen arms threw 81 pitches yesterday, 95 on Saturday night, and 102 on Friday night!

This team desperately needs a long outing from tonight's starter, but those hopes are riding on new acquisition Jameson Taillon, whose 4-year stint with the Cubs ended eight days ago after they couldn't stand looking at him anymore. He had been out for six weeks with a hamstring injury and returned to the Cubs rotation on July 20th only to get shelled in starts vs. the Tigers and the Pirates, both efforts lasting just 4 innings. He also lasted just 4 innings in his Blue Jays debut last Wednesday.

You think the Jays can get lucky and get 7 innings out of this guy tonight? Taillon has lasted 7 innings just once in 16 starts this season. Eleven of those starts lasted less than six.

I am a disaster nearly every time I back a road favorite, but today I'm backing the road team that is 15-1 on the road since they flew out to Anaheim in the beginning of July. Furthermore, I will leave the door to disaster wide open because I am only betting on Sonny Gray and the Red Sox -1.5 +120. The Sox over the last couple of days have looked like they may have run out of gas after a run of 32 wins in 37 games, but I think they'll be sufficiently annoyed that they lost a home series vs. the depleted A's.

Jameson Taillon, whose 4-year stint with the Cubs ended eight days ago after they couldn't stand looking at him anymore

Lol

In MLB expect the unexpected. 

Good write up.

@MrBator

The unexpected is me betting on a road favorite and nodding with satisfaction at game's end. 

bloom coming off Boston’s rose.  Will Jays win?  Probably not but at plus-money I do believe I’ll put a little pizza money in play.  I live in Boston area……implosion coming.  .500 ball rest of the way

@Bet415m

 The Red Sox will sell out doing dumb errors and not hitting when your supposed too. It's all f in rigged. Obvious. 

f5 for the redsox if you want to back them up MR.B! At -115 for -0.5 seems decent value to take advantage against Taillon. The Bluejays bats can be sly come late innings so the run line cant be that easy. One thing I look forward is when Tolle of the Red Sox will start on the 4th game of this series - in which I will hammer the Jays since he never won a game for the Red Sox against bluejays this season and after his stellar outing recording a career high 14Ks I expect him to regress. 

@MrBator

Nice write up!

BOL!!

Can the Athletics fit in this category also. Relievers used up and they had to fly east coast to west coast

 Finally playing a team not slowing down in TB

 Great points. Sox have better starter, better BP, and better line-up. How could they lose? I thought that very same thing yesterday when they were matched against a AAA team.

That's what stinks about this match-up. Something's a bit rotten in the state of Denmark. Certainly not in your analysis though. You're right on there.

BOL,

RT2

@MrBator

 Boston is the only side to play here.

Unless Sonny Gray has a hiccup, I can't see the Jays hanging around long

I like the jays 

Gray has bad numbers vs jays 

@MrBator

 Nice nice sir

Following fg

The one rule I learned from you, (almost 2 decades ago) about betting baseball was....

-betting the favorite on the run line is quickest way to lose money 

@MrBator

 Hi Bator , good read. Baseball is a different beast. Dogs in this particular rivalry are 31-18 with a ROI of almost 43%. I’ll be on the Jays + 1.5 and smaller on the ML. Gl my man .. 

Great minds B, great minds. I was thinking the exact same thing

D

But, can’t pull the trigger the way the line has moved

Good write-ups often lead to losses...Covers lesson. Throwing a small bit of winnings from R/L's on Toronto 

4-5 with 3.31 ERA in 17 appearances is not that bad or good to me.

The Boston lost to the Jays twice this season already when he started though. Both loses cane at home when he was -140 vs T Yesavage and +100 vs D Cease.