Red Sox vs Blue Jays Odds, Betting Lines, and Probable Pitcher (Game 1 – August 7)
- After 12-4 victory in series opener against Boston, Toronto has now won four straight and nine of last 11
- The teams play a doubleheader on Saturday, August 7th, with the Blue Jays now just four games back of their AL East rivals
- Read on for a preview, full odds and a best bet for the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader
The Boston Red Sox (64-47, 31-25 away) visit the Toronto Blue Jays (58-49, 29-23 home) for the second meeting of a four-game weekend series on Saturday, August 7, with the Jays looking to gain more ground on their AL East rivals after Friday night’s 12-4 series-opening rout.
When Robbie Ray delivers the opening pitch for the Blue Jays at 3:07pm ET, the Red Sox will be facing an uphill battle against a team that has won four straight, nine of its last 11 and 14 of its last 21. On top of that, since returning to play games in Canada at the end of July, Toronto has gone 7-1 at Rogers Centre, just the fourth time in franchise history that it has opened with such a dominant run at home.
Red Sox vs Blue Jays Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | +150 | +1.5 (-140) | Over 7 (-120) |
| Toronto Blue Jays | -170 | -1.5 (+120) | Under 7 (+100) |
Odds as of August 6th at DraftKings
Despite sitting second in the AL East, the Red Sox are reeling after losing seven of their last eight games. And while Nick Pivetta takes the mound in Saturday’s first game, he will be hoping for better run support than other Boston pitchers have gotten of late, with the team scoring five runs or less in 13 straight games. That’s Boston’s second-longest such run this century, behind a 16-game stretch in 2012.
Probable Pitchers
Pivetta has enjoyed an effective 2021 season so far, going 8-5 with a 4.57 ERA, easily the best marks of his short career. In fact, since joining the Red Sox last year, he has done even better than that, going 10-5 with a 4.34 ERA.
Given that Nathan Eovaldi didn’t make it out of the fifth inning in Friday’s shelling, giving up seven runs on eight hits, Boston is likely counting on Pivetta to exhibit his usual consistency. The right-hander has thrown six or more innings in nine of his 21 starts, and has gone at least five innings in 15 of those games.
Pivetta vs Ray Stats
| 8-5 | Record | 9-5 |
| 4.57 | ERA | 3.04 |
| 112.1 | Innings Pitched | 124.1 |
| 126 | SO | 154 |
| 49 | BB | 33 |
This will be Pivetta’s fifth start of the season against the Jays – and his third start on the road against them, having taken the mound in both Dunedin and Buffalo.
When Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) takes the hill for Game 1 of the @RedSox/@BlueJays DH Saturday, it will be his 5th start against Toronto this season. He faced the Blue Jays in back-to-back starts July 19th & 26th and allowed 8 earned runs over 11 1/3 innings
— Matt Betts (@Bettsy41) August 5, 2021
He has had mixed success so far, going 1-1 with a 7.59 ERA, giving up at least four earned runs in each start.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Blue Jays Batters | Batting Average vs Nick Pivetta |
|---|---|
| Bo Bichette | .583 |
| Corey Dickerson | .400 |
| Santiago Espinal | .000 |
| Randal Grichuk | .300 |
| Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. | .364 |
| Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. | .250 |
| Teoscar Hernandez | .077 |
| Reese McGuire | .333 |
| Marcus Semien | .364 |
| George Springer | .800 |
| Red Sox Batters | Batting Average vs Robbie Ray |
| Jonathan Arauz | .000 |
| Xander Bogaerts | .286 |
| Bobby Dalbec | .250 |
| Rafael Devers | .750 |
| Marwin Gonzalez | .200 |
| Enrique Hernandez | .227 |
| J.D. Martinez | .100 |
| Kevin Plawecki | .571 |
| Hunter Renfroe | .100 |
| Christian Vazquez | .000 |
| Alex Verdugo | .364 |
Ray has done slightly better against the Red Sox, going 2-1 with a 4.24 ERA in three starts. Boston has given the left-hander a harder time than much of the rest of baseball, with Ray owning a 9-5 record and a 3.04 ERA this season.
Robbie Ray is striking out 11.147 per 9 innings this season, which would set a new franchise record topping Roger Clemens in 1998 at 10.393/9! #BlueJays #WeAreBlueJays #BlueGrit pic.twitter.com/jS2pCuz5u7
— Scott BlueJaysAlways (@BluejaysAlways) August 6, 2021
He will be hoping to help the Jays close the gap on the team with the second-best record in the AL East. Toronto has gone 7-9 so far against the Sox, but will feel more confident now that the team is back in the friendly confines of the Rogers Centre. In eight games so far, Toronto has put up 47 runs, but it’s the starting pitching that has really come to light. In those games, the starters have combined for an ERA of 1.49, and Ray will be hoping to get in on that action.
Red Sox vs Blue Jays Pick
Pivetta has been enjoying a very solid 2021 so far, but this game has ‘wrong place, wrong time’ written all over it. Pivetta hasn’t performed well against the Jays and the Red Sox are unable to provide much offense. On the other side of that equation, the Blue Jays have been almost unbeatable since they returned north of the border, are scoring runs for fun, while Ray has been a consistent performer.
It all adds up to a Blue Jays win.
Best bet: Blue Jays -1.5 (+120)
For the last 20 years, Paul Attfield has worked in sports media. Starting out in his native Britain with the likes of The Independent, he eventually switched continents, with his work appearing in the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Yahoo Sports since.
