Two American League teams that sit atop the wild-card standings will battle for playoff positioning when the Toronto Blue Jays start a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday in Anaheim.
The Blue Jays continue an eight-game road trip against the Angels as small betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark after splitting a pair with the Philadelphia Phillies. Meanwhile, Los Angeles just wrapped up a four-game set at home versus the Chicago White Sox.
Toronto is just 2-3 in its past five games following an 11-game winning streak after falling to the Phillies 7-4 on Wednesday. Fortunately for the Blue Jays, they will send new ace David Price (11-4, 2.41 ERA) to the mound; he hopes to win his second straight road start for them.
In his first road start since coming over in a trade from the Detroit Tigers, Price blanked the New York Yankees for seven innings in a 7-0 victory back on August 8. However, he walked away with a no-decision against the Yankees a week ago, giving up three runs and 11 hits in 7.1 innings of an eventual 4-3 loss at home.
Los Angeles split four games at Toronto from May 18-21 and trails the Blue Jays for the league’s top wild-card spot while the team also continues to chase the Houston Astros for the AL West lead. The Angels will look to lefty Hector Santiago (7-6, 2.86 ERA) to get back on track Friday after they have lost in four of his past five outings, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.
Santiago has allowed three runs or less in each of his past three starts but does not have a victory to show for it, with Los Angeles getting outscored 10-7 in those games.
Like Price, he also had a no-decision in his last start against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday night, giving up two runs and three hits in seven innings with three walks and five strikeouts in a 4-3 loss.
The second and third games of the Blue Jays vs. Angels betting matchup on Saturday and Sunday look to be more even matchups from a starting pitching perspective and may favor the home team.
On Saturday, Toronto will give the ball to Marco Estrada (10-7, 3.20 ERA) against Andrew Heaney (5-1, 2.43 ERA) of the Angels. Los Angeles' Garrett Richards (12-9, 3.50 ERA) will then close out the series on Sunday versus knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (7-10, 4.14 ERA) of the Blue Jays.
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