Orioles vs Blue Jays Picks and Odds – Aug. 31

• The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays close out a four-game series on Monday, Aug. 31, with first pitch set for 2:07 pm ET
• The Blue Jays have taken all six games against Orioles this series
• Find Monday’s odds, analysis and a pick for the game in the article below

The next time the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays face off — in the final series of the 2020 season — their playoff fate might be sealed one way or another. But for now, both teams remain very much in the hunt, entering Game 4 of their current series on Monday at 2:07 pm ET.

Baltimore had opening day starter Tommy Milone penciled in to start, but then they traded him to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. Instead, it’ll be Keegan Akin — making his first MLB start — opposite Toronto’s Chase Anderson.

Here’s a look at the Orioles vs. Blue Jays odds for Aug. 31:

Baltimore Orioles vs Toronto Blue Jays Odds

Odds taken Aug. 31

About Yesterday

Down to their final out, trailing in the ninth inning, the Toronto Blue Jays made some magic happen on Sunday in the form of a walk-off, two-RBI single for Teoscar Hernandez.

It was the Blue Jays’ second walk-off win over the Orioles in the past three days.

11 wins in our last 15!

Goodnight, #BlueJays fans! pic.twitter.com/HjicUzVHxD

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 31, 2020

Baltimore collected 12 hits (to Toronto’s seven), but ran into a ton of trouble in the ninth, as reliever Cole Sulser dealt three walks (one intentional) before Hernandez’s winning hit.

Notably for the Blue Jays, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stayed hot by extending his hitting streak to 12 games, a career high.

Blue Jays Career Stats vs Akin

No Bo, No Problem

When Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette hit the 10-day injured list on Aug. 16, Toronto appeared to be in major trouble. Bichette, after all, is the team’s top offensive threat (179 OPS+).

And yet somehow, since Aug. 17, the Blue Jays are 11-3 — including 6-0 against the Orioles. Offensively, their OPS is roughly 40 points up from their season-long average (.768) and they’re scoring an additional run per game (from 4.8 to 5.8).

It doesn’t seem to make sense, that you could remove a team’s best hitter and the team would respond by hitting better. For now, though, that’s what has happened.

Bo Bichette is a BEAST pic.twitter.com/2IxPsNmuS7

— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) August 15, 2020

Still, you’d expect Toronto wants Bichette back from his right knee sprain as soon as possible. He fielded grounders and hit in the batting cage on Sunday, though he does not yet have a timetable to return.

Orioles Career Stats vs Anderson

Can O’s Get to Anderson?

The key to this game is the performance of Chase Anderson, who will likely be relied upon to eat more innings on Monday than he has in any start this season.

Anderson, who got a late start to the 2020 campaign with an oblique strain, has been working to build up his pitch count. His four starts, by pitch count, have been 45, 59, 78 and 83.

“My body’s feeling good and I feel like every time it’s recovering better.”@BlueJays' Chase Anderson on how he feels at this point in the season. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Y7Cn9mrsLE

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 26, 2020

He’s presumably built up by now, and Toronto will look to get more than five innings (his season high) out of him — especially given that Tuesday is a planned bullpen day for the Blue Jays. That might be a problem, given that Anderson has only worked six innings in four of his past 31 starts, dating back to the beginning of 2019.

Neither Anderson nor Akin have started against their respective opponents on Monday, so it’s wide open in that sense. The Orioles have seen a couple of these recent games slip through their fingers, but maybe it’s time they get a bounce or two to go their way.

Pick: Baltimore Orioles, +188