Baltimore at Toronto AL Wild Card Prediction

It has been a wild 162-game season in the Majors, and the race for the playoffs has even wilder, but everything is now settled and we know which teams will be participating in the postseason games, starting with wild card games this Tuesday. In the AL, we’ll be treated to a thriller wild card matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays after both teams punched in their postseason tickets on Sunday. If the regular season is any indication, anything could happen in the MLB lines when the Orioles and Blue Jays take to the field on Tuesday in a one- game, win-or- get-eliminated showdown, but we’ll do our best to guide your wagers with the following comprehensive online betting preview.

Baltimore at Toronto AL Wild Card Prediction & TV Info

#Postseason, book it. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/5sVAIDcinR

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) October 3, 2016

When: Tuesday, October 4, 2016. 8pm Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario TV: TBS Radio: Baltimore / Toronto Stream Option: MLB.tv MLB Odds: TBA

How they Made the Playoffs?

The Orioles were one of the best teams in the nation entering the second half of the season, but somehow lost momentum with shaky performances in August and September. All that, however, didn’t matter, as the Os found some much-needed form down the stretch, winning 7 of their last 9 games, including a 2-1 series victory at the Yankees over the weekend to earn a shot in the wild card round. In their last game on Sunday, the Orioles were fueled by a pair of two-run homers from catcher Matt Wieters and a clutch pitching performance from Kevin Gausman to beat the Yankees 5-2, a victory that sealed their place in Tuesday’s matchup against the Blue Jays. Toronto needed several things to happen in order to make the playoffs, and everything seemingly happened according to plan for the team over the weekend. First, the Detroit Tigers lost to Atlanta 1-0 earlier Sunday evening, guaranteeing the Jays a place in the playoffs whether or not they’d beat Boston later in the day. But Aaron Sanchez and the Blue Jays didn’t care about the Detroit loss anyway, as they engineered a sterling 2-1 win at Boston on Sunday. Sanchez was a beast on the mound, holding the high-powered Red Sox offense hitless through six innings in arguably his best performance of the season. The Jays finished the season by winning 6 of their last 10 games, including the last two straight over Boston.

Why the Orioles Will Win?

The Blue Jays have struggled on the road this year, going 39-42 in the process, but they did finish the regular season strongly by winning five straight series on the road. This, notably, included the Orioles taking two of three against the Blue Jays in Toronto last week. You can therefore be assured that the Orioles will come into this game full of confidence about their chances of beating the Blue Jays in Toronto on Tuesday. Even more encouragingly, the Orioles figure to have their best pitcher, RHP Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.77 ERA), starting on the mound. This should offer a solid pitching advantage over the Blue Jays, especially with Baltimore also having a superior bullpen led by Cy Young candidate Zach Britton. If Tillman doesn’t start, the Orioles will probably ride on Ubaldo Jimenez’s late-season resurgence, where he had a 2.45 ERA in his last seven starts, with Baltimore winning five of those seven games (including a current run of 17 innings without allowing an earned run).

Why the Blue Jays will Win?

The Blue Jays decently went 46-35 at home this year, including a 5-4 home record in the series over Orioles. Toronto also edged Baltimore 10-9 in the overall series this season, the big reason the Jays will be hosting Tuesday’s game. From those numbers, it is clear that the Blue Jays will have the motivational edge to bag the win this Tuesday. In terms of their playing style, the Jays have an above-average offense that can hit home runs and their starting rotation has been better than Baltimore’s this season. Even so, the Jays burned their best starter in Sanchez– who had the best winning percentage in the AL (15-2 win record) and the best AL ERA (3.00)–on Sunday, meaning they’ll need to have someone else take a strong leading role on the mound on Tuesday. As of the time or this writing, Toronto is yet to announce its pitcher for the wild card game, but the team should most likely send out ace pitcher J.A. Happ, who won the second-most games in the AL with a 20-4 record and had a 3.18 ERA this season. If not, the Blue Jays will have either Marcus Stroman (9-10, 4.37 ERA) or Francisco Liriano (8-13, 4.69 ERA) take to the mound.

MLB Playoff Predictions and Writer’s Pick

With plenty of talent on showcase in this winner-takes- all wild-card game, we should definitely be in for a top showdown. The Blue Jays’ playoff experience is obviously superior and playing at home will be a big boost for this battle-tested team. That said, the Orioles figure to have a better pitching unit for this game– both at starting and bullpen positions– and the team’s hard-hitting batting unit that scored the most home runs in the majors this season will make them hard to contain. That, plus the fact that Baltimore has been playing well on the road lately, should give the O’s the edge in this crucial encounter. Final Predicted Score: Baltimore 6, Toronto 4 Writer’s Pick: Baltimore