Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/9/2020

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox

Date: Sunday, August 9, 2020

Location: Fenway Park in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/RSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jays (+132) Red Sox (-143)

Fenway Park is the venue where Xander Bogaerts and the Boston Red Sox (5-8, 4th in AL East) will take on the Toronto Blue Jays (4-7, 5th in AL East) on Sunday. The moneyline on this contest has the Blue Jays priced at +132 and the Red Sox are at -143. The over/under opens at 10. The pitchers taking the mound will be Matt Shoemaker and Nathan Eovaldi.

Key Toronto Blue Jays Injuries

8/8/2020 Hector Perez SP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 17
8/7/2020 Chase Anderson SP Oblique Expected to be out until at least Aug 8
8/7/2020 Trent Thornton SP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
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

8/8/2020 Josh Taylor RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 8
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 4-7 overall record this season. Shoemaker has thrown 583 frames and has totaled 520 punchouts thus far in his career. His ERA is 3.86 (250 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.191. He has given up 552 hits (8.5 hits per 9 innings) and has 143 walks. Shoemaker (43-33 career record) holds a FIP of 4.04 while he has faced 2,409 hitters in the majors. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.61 and they have given up 36 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .180 against the bullpen and they've struck out 51 hitters and walked 27 batters. As a team, Toronto allows 7.2 hits per nine innings while striking out 9 batters per nine innings. They are 13th in the league in team earned run average at 4.02. The Blue Jays pitchers collectively have given up 77 base hits and 43 earned runs. They have allowed 12 home runs this season, ranking them 23rd in the league. Toronto as a pitching staff has walked 53 batters and struck out 96. They have walked 5 men per 9 innings while striking out 9 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.35 and their FIP as a unit is 4.30.

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

Hitting Statistics

As a team Toronto is hitting .218, good for 21st in the league. The Blue Jays hold a .371 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .273, which is good for 29th in baseball. They rank 16th in MLB with 7.4 hits per game. Lourdes Gurriel Jr is hitting .270 with an on-base percentage of .282. He has 10 hits this season in 37 at bats with 3 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .432 and an OPS+ of 103. Teoscar Hernandez is hitting .317 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .341. He has totaled 13 hits and he has driven in 7 men in 41 at bats. His OPS+ is 187 while his slugging percentage is at .683. The Blue Jays have 81 hits, including 16 doubles and 13 home runs. Toronto has walked 30 times so far this season and they have struck out 91 times as a unit. They have left 69 men on base and have a team OPS of .644. They score 3.09 runs per contest and have scored a total of 34 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Boston has a 5-8 overall mark this year. So far in his career, Eovaldi has conceded 978 hits while he has totaled 724 strikeouts in 933 innings. He has conceded 445 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.366 and a FIP of 4.0. He has a SO/W ratio of 2.44 and he has gone up against 3,999 opposing batters during his pro baseball career. Eovaldi (47-55 career record) has a 4.29 ERA while allowing 9.4 hits per nine innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.33 and they have given up 57 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .214 against the Red Sox bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 67 batters and walked 25 opposing hitters. As a team, Boston allows 9.1 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.2 batters per nine innings. They are 24th in the league in team earned run average at 5.1. The Red Sox pitchers as a team have surrendered 114 base knocks and 64 earned runs this season. They have given up 18 home runs this year, which ranks 5th in Major League Baseball. Boston as a staff has walked 53 hitters and struck out 103 batters. They give up a walk 4.2 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.2 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.48 while their FIP as a staff is 4.92.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .251, good for 6th in the league. The Red Sox hold a .432 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .316, which is good for 13th in baseball. They rank 7th in MLB with 8.6 hits per contest. Xander Bogaerts comes into this matchup batting .333 with an OBP of .404. He has 14 hits this year along with 9 RBI in 42 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .619 with an OPS+ of 180. 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 143 and a slugging percentage of .526. The Red Sox as a unit have 112 base hits, including 27 doubles and 18 homers. Boston has walked 37 times this year and they have struck out on 118 occasions. They have had 89 men left on base and have an OPS of .748. They have scored 4.38 runs per game and totaled 57 runs this season.

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

Josh's Pick: Take the Red Sox (-143)

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