Starting Friday night inside Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, the Pittsburgh Pirates will embark on a road trip to face the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game set. They toss out the first pitch at 7:07 p.m.
Bookmaker has installed the Pirates +140 on the moneyline.
The Pirates have woken up a little, having won three out of their last five games, but they have a tendency to be a slow-starting team. They then pick it up midway through the season to make things interesting for themselves and their fanbase.
Pittsburgh has some young raw talent, and they have hung in the NL Central as they are still within shouting distance of the frontrunning Milwaukee Brewers, who lead the division over the Pirates by seven games heading into Friday night's action.
Bryan Reynolds, a left-fielder, leads the Pirates' offense with seven home runs and an average of.254 so far this season. He has shown a solid glove but needs to be more disciplined at the plate.
The Pirates, as a team, are only hitting 229, a very poor score. They will send out Bailey Falter, who has posted a mark of 3-2 with an ERA of 3.55.
The Blue Jays have been an average team, and their record shows that. They have had issues getting on base, and their starting rotation has had too many inconsistent starts, causing them to have to play from behind this season.
After a three-game slide, they've won three in a row. They need their starters to go deep in some of these games, and they have not been able to work themselves out of jams. At times, their inconsistent pitchers force them to rely on their offense to carry the load.
Left-fielder Daulton Varsho, who has already clubbed ten home runs and is on pace to have a career-high in home runs this season, leads them on offense.
The Blue Jays will send out Jose Berrios will take the ball and the mound for the Blue Jays, as he carries a 5-4 mark to go along with an ERA of 2.94. If he can settle into an early groove and gain some confidence, he should be able to go at least five innings.
The onus will then fall on the offense to generate some runs and bolster his performance. Look for the Blue Jays to take some chances on the base paths and attempt to steal some bases.
The Blue Jays are 3-2 in their last five games. They are also 16-15 in their road games against the opposition. The Pirates are 3-2 in their last five games. They are also 17-12 in their road games against the spread.
