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

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox

Date: Saturday, August 8, 2020

Location: Fenway Park in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/RSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jays (-185) Red Sox (+165)

Fenway Park is the site where Kevin Pillar and the Boston Red Sox (4-8, 5th in AL East) will play the Toronto Blue Jays (4-6, 4th in AL East) on Saturday. The Red Sox open this matchup at +165 while the Blue Jays are priced at -185. The over/under is set at 9.5. The starting pitchers will be Chase Anderson and Zack Godley.

Key Toronto Blue Jays Injuries

8/7/2020 Hector Perez SP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 7
8/7/2020 Trent Thornton SP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/7/2020 Chase Anderson SP Oblique Expected to be out until at least Aug 8
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 4-6 overall record this season. Anderson (53-40 career mark) is the owner of a FIP of 4.58 and he has gone up against 3,578 hitters in the major leagues. His earned run average is 3.94 (375 ER's allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.261. He has conceded 800 base hits (8.4 hits per 9 innings) and has had 281 walks. Anderson has taken the hill for 857 innings and has totaled 721 strikeouts thus far in his career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.83 and they have given up 33 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .185 against the bullpen and they've struck out 41 hitters and walked 23 batters. As a team, Toronto allows 7.2 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings. They are 12th in the league in team earned run average at 3.87. The Blue Jays pitchers collectively have given up 71 base hits and 38 earned runs. They have allowed 9 home runs this season, ranking them 28th in the league. Toronto as a pitching staff has walked 44 batters and struck out 85. They have walked 4.5 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.7 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.30 and their FIP as a unit is 3.96.

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

Hitting Statistics

As a team Toronto is hitting .214, good for 23rd in the league. The Blue Jays hold a .364 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .263, which is good for 29th in baseball. They rank 21st in MLB with 7.3 hits per game. Teoscar Hernandez is hitting .297 with an on-base percentage of .325. He has 11 hits this season in 37 at bats with 7 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .676 and an OPS+ of 178. Lourdes Gurriel Jr is hitting .303 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .314. He has totaled 10 hits and he has driven in 3 men in 33 at bats. His OPS+ is 126 while his slugging percentage is at .485. The Blue Jays have 73 hits, including 13 doubles and 12 home runs. Toronto has walked 24 times so far this season and they have struck out 88 times as a unit. They have left 62 men on base and have a team OPS of .627. They score 3.1 runs per contest and have scored a total of 31 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Boston has a 4-8 overall mark this year. Godley (37-31 career mark) holds a 4.70 ERA while surrendering 8.6 hits per nine innings. His SO/W ratio is 2.37 and he has gone up against 2,344 batters so far in his pro baseball career. In his pro baseball career, Godley has surrendered 522 hits while he has accumulated 522 strikeouts in 543 innings pitched. He has conceded 284 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.366 and a FIP of 4.2. 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 5th 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 4.88.

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 16th in baseball. They rank 5th in MLB with 8.8 hits per contest. Kevin Pillar comes into this matchup batting .342 with an OBP of .359. He has 13 hits this year along with 5 RBI in 38 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .526 with an OPS+ of 142. Xander Bogaerts is hitting .317 this season and he has an OBP of .349. He has collected 13 hits in 41 at bats while driving in 9 runs. He has an OPS+ of 159 and a slugging percentage of .610. 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 (+165)

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