Toronto Blue Jays vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction & Betting Tips 6/1/2024

Toronto Blue Jays vs Pittsburgh Pirates Preview

The over/under line for Saturday’s Pirates vs. Blue Jays interleague matchup is currently at 8 runs, with the Blue Jays being favored on the money line (-159). Pittsburgh’s money line odds are sitting at +135, and the game will get started at 3:07 PM ET from the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Blue Jays are 4th in the AL East, while the Pirates are 4th in the NL Central.

SN PT will be televising Saturday’s game, and Yusei Kikuchi will be on the mound for the Blue Jays, as they look to move above .500. The Pirates are starting Mitch Keller, and they are 26-31 this season.

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Toronto Blue Jays Trends and Key Stats

• Across their last five road games, the Pirates are 2-3. This includes going 3-2 vs. the runline.
• In the Blue Jays’ five most recent home games, their record stands at 3-2 (SU) with 3-2 against the spread.
• The Blue Jays have a straight-up record of 6-4 in their last ten games as the favorite, and a 6-4 record vs. the runline.
• Looking at the Pirates’ previous ten games as the underdog they are 5-5 straight-up and 6-4 vs. the runline.

Toronto picked up a 5-3 win over the Pirates in the most recent game of this series. The Blue Jays had a huge 2nd inning, scoring four of their five runs. As for the Pirates, they scored their first run in the 5th and added two more in the 11th.

Jose Berrios got the win for the Blue Jays, going seven innings and giving up just one run. He finished the game with five strikeouts but didn’t issue a walk. Bailey Falter only went six innings for the Pirates but gave up just two hits and didn’t give up a run.

Davis Schneider was the difference for the Blue Jays, as he homered, scored twice, and drove in two runs. Andrew McCutchen did the same for the Pirates, going 2/6 with a homer.

Toronto Blue Jays vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction

Pittsburgh is 26-31 overall, putting them 4th in the NL Central. So far, they are eight games behind the Brewers for the division lead. The Pirates are 7-7 against other NL Central clubs. They will look to close the gap in the division with the Cubs, as they trail them by 1.5 games for the 3rd spot in the division.

At home, the Pirates are 12-15 this year, and they are just above .500 at 14-16 on the road. Heading into today’s game, the Pirates have dropped three straight games as the underdog. As the underdog overall, the Pirates are 18-17 and 8-14 when favored.

When the Pirates win, they win big, with an average run margin of 2.9 runs per game. However, when they lose, they lose by an average of 3.4 runs per game. As a result, they have a run line record of 31-26 on the season, and they are 18-12 against the run line on the road. They have lost three straight against the run line as the favorite, but they are 24-11 against the run line as the underdog.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the Toronto Blue Jays. The over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs. The combined run average for Pirates games this season is 8.5 runs. Pittsburgh has an over/under record of 29-27 on the season, and the average over/under line for their games is 8 runs. When the line is set at 8 runs, their over/under record is 8-7. So far this season, 42.1% of their games have had over/under lines set at 8 runs, with 31.6% of their games having lower lines.

Mitch Keller has been pitching well for the Pirates, as he has won his last four starts. Most recently, he faced the Braves on May 25th, where he picked up the win. In that outing, Keller went 6 2/3 innings, giving up just one earned run on six hits. Looking at his overall numbers, Keller is 6-3 with a 3.59 ERA. Opponents have a batting average of .248 off the right-hander this season. Keller has one complete game shutout this year. So far, he has made six starts on the road, going 3-2 with a 4.01 ERA.

Andrew McCutchen has been swinging the bat well for the Pirates of late, going 8/26 in his last six games with a home run and five RBIs. For the season, McCutchen is batting just .237, but his eight homers are the best mark on the team. McCutchen’s 19 RBIs are the 4th best mark for the Pirates this season. Nick Gonzales is also swinging a hot bat right now, going 9/22 in his last six games with seven RBIs. Gonzales also has a three-game hitting streak coming into today’s game.

Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz are both tied for 2nd on the team with seven home runs, and Reynolds’ 30 RBIs are the best mark for the Pirates. Cruz has 20 RBIs, which is the 3rd best mark for the team. As a team, the Pirates are batting just .226, and they are 23rd in the league in scoring at 4 runs per game.

Toronto is 27-29 overall this season, and they are 11.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East. The Blue Jays are currently 4th in the AL East and have gone 7-8 in divisional games this year. Toronto has won four straight games, and they have gone 6-4 across their last 10 games.

At home, the Blue Jays are 13-12 this year and 14-17 on the road. As the favorite, the Blue Jays are 21-15 this year and 6-14 as the underdog. Toronto’s overall series record is 6-9-3, and they are leading their current series vs. the Pirates.

The Blue Jays have been a .500 team against the run line this season, going 28-28. They have been slightly better on the road, going 17-14, compared to 11-14 at home. They have covered the run line in four straight games as the favorite, and have a run line record of 19-17 in those games.

The Blue Jays have been involved in high-scoring games this season, with their games averaging 8.5 runs per game. However, their over/under record is just 23-32, and their games have gone under the total in two straight contests. The over/under line for today’s game against the Pirates is set at 8 runs, which is right around their average line for the season.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi gets the start for the Blue Jays today as he faces off against the Pirates. Kikuchi has made 11 starts this season and has a record of 2-4 with a 3.25 ERA. Looking at his overall numbers, Kikuchi has a WHIP of 1.20 and has turned in six quality starts. In his last outing, Kikuchi finished with a no-decision, giving up five earned runs in three innings of work. Before that, he had gone three straight outings without giving up a home run. Kikuchi has a home ERA of 2.85 compared to 4.63 on the road.

So far this season, the Blue Jays are averaging 4 runs per game, which is 22nd in the league. As a team, they are batting just .234, which is 14th in the league, and are also near the bottom of the league in terms of home runs. However, the Blue Jays do have three players with at least 25 RBIs, led by Daulton Varsho, who also has 10 homers.

Bo Bichette has been swinging the bat well of late, going 13/40 in his last nine games with two homers and nine RBIs. Davis Schneider has also been driving in runs of late, going 8/33 in his last nine games with two homers and 12 RBIs. Daulton Varsho has gone deep twice in his last seven games but is hitting just .179 in that stretch.

Our prediction for today’s Pirates vs. Blue Jays matchup is to take the Blue Jays on the money line at -159. We have the Blue Jays winning this one by a final score of 5-4. Looking at the starting pitchers, our projections have Mitch Keller finishing with six strikeouts, which is good for 11th among starters.

Offensively, we have the Blue Jays finishing with nine hits, which is 14th in the league today. As for the Pirates, they are projected to finish with eight hits, which is 18th in the league.

Toronto Blue Jays vs Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Tips

• Take the Blue Jays on the moneyline
• On the run line we like the Pirates (+1.5)
• Projecting a combined 9 runs, we like the over

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