Toronto Blue Jays (35-39) at Cleveland Guardians (46-26)
Game Info: Friday, June 21st, 2024 at 7:10 p.m. EST (Progressive Field)
Betting Odds: Guardians ML (-110) - Over/Under (7.5)
Pick: Guardians ML (-110)
The Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Guardians will meet for the second weekend in a row and for the second time in five days here on Friday night. The last time these two teams got together it was north of the border in Toronto and the Toronto Blue Jays took two out of three from Cleveland. Now Cleveland will look to return the favor as they continue their homestand after taking two out of three from the Seattle Mariners throughout the week. These are two teams that came into the season with very different expectations, but they have been the opposite of those expectations and they will look to build up momentum throughout the weekend against each other.
The Toronto Blue Jays came into the season with expectations of winning the American League East division and competing for a World Series. Throughout the first couple months of the regular season that has not been the case as they look more like a team that will be selling at the deadline rather than going all in for a championship. Their core players have been incredible for the Blue Jays throughout the years, but it has not worked out in terms of postseason success, and this may be the final attempt at trying to field a championship winning team with guys like Bichette on the roster.
Despite the rough start to the season, they will have some momentum coming into this series after taking two out of three against Cleveland back at home last weekend.
Now they will look to parlay that momentum into another victory here on Friday night on the road. Toronto will look to grab a much-needed victory here on Friday night as they look to get things back on track throughout the summer and put up a fight for one of the three wildcard spots in the American League. Toronto comes into this game with a record of 35-39 and they are coming off of a three game sweep at home to the hands of the Boston Red Sox. They will look to snap their current losing streak and get back into the win column with a solid performance here in this one. Starting this game for Toronto will be up in the air before first pitch, which makes it that much more interesting for this Cleveland offense.
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After dropping a series last weekend on the road in Toronto, Cleveland bounced back in a big way by taking two out of three from the Seattle Mariners. They have been the best team in all of baseball at home this season and they will look to further push that narrative with another victory here at home here on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays. This is a massive game for Cleveland because a victory over Toronto would even up the season series into the final two games between the two teams which could have tiebreaker implications. Cleveland will also look to extend their lead within the American League Central division as well, as they were able to gain a game over Kansas City and Minnesota with their victory on Thursday.
Carlos Carrasco gets the baseball for Cleveland in this game and he has looked rough throughout the first couple months of the season. It is unlikely he will continue to feature in the rotation if Cleveland makes some moves at the trade deadline to bring in some more starting pitching. That has been a big mark for the team throughout the early part of the season despite their success, but he will look to stay on track and lead them to a victory over Toronto here in this one. They have been putting up offensive explosions as of late and they will continue that throughout this game on Friday night.
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- Cleveland is 23-9 at home
- Toronto is 16-23 against teams above .500
- Cleveland is 29-17 against teams below .500
I look for Cleveland to grab a series opening victory over the Toronto Blue Jays here on Friday night at Progressive Field. As previously mentioned, Cleveland has been the best team in baseball at home throughout the early part of the regular season and I expect that to continue with another solid display here in game one of the series. I see this game as a high scoring contest between two solid offensive teams, but in the end, I think Cleveland pulls away with quality performances from Josh Naylor and Jose Ramirez.
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