Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/7/2020

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox

Date: Friday, August 7, 2020

Location: Fenway Park in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/RSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jays (+105) Red Sox (-115)

Xander Bogaerts and the Boston Red Sox (4-8, 5th in AL East) host the Toronto Blue Jays (4-5, 3rd in AL East) at Fenway Park on Friday. The Red Sox open this matchup at -115 while the Blue Jays are coming in at +105. The O/U opens at 9. The starting pitchers are Tanner Roark and Ryan Weber.

Key Toronto Blue Jays Injuries

8/6/2020 Chase Anderson SP Oblique Expected to be out until at least Aug 6
8/6/2020 Hector Perez SP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 6
8/5/2020 Derek Fisher RF Quadriceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
8/4/2020 Elvis Luciano RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 24
7/30/2020 Yennsy Diaz RP Lat Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
7/28/2020 Ken Giles RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Key Boston Red Sox Injuries

8/4/2020 Josh Taylor RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 7
8/1/2020 Eduardo Rodriguez SP Illness Out for the season
7/28/2020 Darwinzon Hernandez RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
7/7/2020 Dustin Pedroia 2B Knee Expected to be out until at least Sep 1
6/28/2020 Chris Sale SP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Blue Jays have a 4-5 overall record this season. Roark has taken the mound for 1,105 frames and has accumulated 895 punchouts in his pro baseball career. His ERA is 3.70 (454 ER's allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.234. He has allowed 1,050 base hits (8.6 hits per nine innings) with 314 walks. Roark (75-64 career record) is the owner of a FIP of 4.06 while facing 4,600 opposing hitters during his time in the major leagues. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.92 and they have given up 31 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .187 against the bullpen and they've struck out 38 hitters and walked 23 batters. As a team, Toronto allows 7.5 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings. They are 14th in the league in team earned run average at 3.83. The Blue Jays pitchers collectively have given up 67 base hits and 34 earned runs. They have allowed 7 home runs this season, ranking them 27th in the league. Toronto as a pitching staff has walked 41 batters and struck out 77. They have walked 4.6 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.7 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.35 and their FIP as a unit is 3.77.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Toronto is hitting .220, good for 18th in the league. The Blue Jays hold a .369 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .273, which is good for 28th in baseball. They rank 16th in MLB with 7.6 hits per game. Lourdes Gurriel Jr is hitting .276 with an on-base percentage of .290. He has 8 hits this season in 29 at bats with 3 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .448 and an OPS+ of 111. Teoscar Hernandez is hitting .278 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .308. He has totaled 10 hits and he has driven in 6 men in 36 at bats. His OPS+ is 174 while his slugging percentage is at .667. The Blue Jays have 68 hits, including 11 doubles and 11 home runs. Toronto has walked 24 times so far this season and they have struck out 78 times as a unit. They have left 60 men on base and have a team OPS of .642. They score 3.11 runs per contest and have scored a total of 28 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Boston has a 4-8 overall mark this year. Weber (3-11 career record) has earned a 5.39 ERA and has surrendered 10.1 hits per 9 innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 2.57 and he has gone up against 524 opposing hitters thus far in his career. During his MLB career, Weber has surrendered 137 base knocks while he has earned 72 punchouts in 122 innings pitched. He has surrendered a total of 73 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.355 and a FIP of 4.9. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.63 and they have given up 54 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .220 against the Red Sox bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 67 batters and walked 21 opposing hitters. As a team, Boston allows 9.2 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings. They are 27th in the league in team earned run average at 5.28. The Red Sox pitchers as a team have surrendered 106 base knocks and 61 earned runs this season. They have given up 17 home runs this year, which ranks 4th in Major League Baseball. Boston as a staff has walked 47 hitters and struck out 100 batters. They give up a walk 4.1 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.7 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.47 while their FIP as a staff is 4.83.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .254, good for 5th in the league. The Red Sox hold a .423 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .310, which is good for 17th in baseball. They rank 5th in MLB with 8.8 hits per contest. Xander Bogaerts comes into this matchup batting .317 with an OBP of .349. He has 13 hits this year along with 9 RBI in 41 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .610 with an OPS+ of 163. Kevin Pillar is hitting .342 this season and he has an OBP of .359. He has collected 13 hits in 38 at bats while driving in 5 runs. He has an OPS+ of 146 and a slugging percentage of .526. The Red Sox as a unit have 106 base hits, including 26 doubles and 15 homers. Boston has walked 28 times this year and they have struck out on 107 occasions. They have had 80 men left on base and have an OPS of .733. They have scored 4.33 runs per game and totaled 52 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Blue Jays/Red Sox MLB game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Red Sox (-115)

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