The Pittsburgh Pirates (27-31) travel to face off against the Toronto Blue Jays (27-30) on Sunday, June 2nd. This game will be played at Rogers Centre in Toronto and televised on SN PT. The Pirates are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Blue Jays are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Pirates. First pitch is set for 12:37 CT.
Pirates vs Blue Jays
Pittsburgh cruised to an easy 8-1 win over the Blue Jays in the most recent game of this series. The Pirates had a huge 1st inning, scoring three of their eight runs. As for the Blue Jays, they scored their only run in the 5th. Heading into the game, the Pirates were at +127 on the money line.
Mitch Keller pitched well for the Pirates in this one, going six innings and giving up just one run. He finished the game with eight strikeouts but issued five walks. Yusei Kikuchi had a rough outing for the Blue Jays, giving up five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work.
At the plate, the Pirates were led by Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds, as they were the only two Pirates hitters to have more than one hit. Hayes, Jared Triolo, and Connor Joe each had two RBIs for Pittsburgh’s offense.
Pittsburgh will be on the road for today’s game vs. the Blue Jays, and they are 27-31 overall this season. The Pirates are 4th in the NL Central, trailing the Brewers by eight games. So far, they are 7-7 in divisional games.
The Pirates have struggled as the favorite this year, going 8-14, but they are above .500 at 19-17 as the underdog. As the road underdog, the Pirates are 12-12 this year. They have an overall series record of 6-8-4 this year, and they are currently 1-1 in their series vs. the Blue Jays.
While the Pirates are just 32-26 against the run line this season, they have been a much better bet on the road, where they are 19-12. They have been especially good as an underdog, going 25-11 against the run line. Their average run margin in winning games is 3.0, while it drops to -3.4 in losses.
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 per game. Pittsburgh has a 30-27 over/under record on the season, and the average over/under line for their games is 8 runs. When the over/under line is set at 8 runs, the Pirates have an 8-7 over/under record. So far this season, 41.4% of their games have had over/under lines set at 8 runs, while 32.8% have had lines set below 8 runs.
Quinn Priester Gets The Start For The Pirates
Quinn Priester and the Pirates are on the road to take on the Blue Jays. Priester is still looking for his first win of the season, as he has taken a loss in each of his first three starts. In his last outing, he went 6 innings, allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and striking out 5.
Pirates Offense Breakdown
Andrew McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds are tied for the team lead with eight home runs this season, with Reynolds leading the Pirates with 32 RBIs. McCutchen has gone 9/30 in his last seven games, including one home run and six RBIs. Reynolds has also gone deep once in this stretch but is just 6/30. Nick Gonzales has gone 10/26 in his last seven games, with one home run and seven RBIs.
As a team, the Pirates are batting just .228 this season and are averaging only 4.1 runs per game. Their team on-base percentage of .300 is just 18th in the league. Pittsburgh comes into the game with a collective batting average of .228, which is 21st in the MLB.
Toronto is 27-30 overall this season, and they are 12.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East. The Blue Jays and Rays are both 12.5 games back, and they are both in 4th place in the division. This season, the Blue Jays have gone 7-8 in divisional games.
At home, the Blue Jays are 13-13 this season and 14-17 on the road. So far, they have been good as the favorite, going 21-16, but just 6-14 as the underdog. Toronto’s overall series record is 6-9-3, and they are 6-4 in their last ten games overall.
When the Blue Jays win, they win big, with an average run margin of +3.3 runs. When they lose, they lose by an average of -4.0 runs. Their overall run line record is 28-29, with a -0.6 run margin per game. At home, they are 11-15 against the run line, with a run margin of -0.6 runs per game. On the road, they have a run line record of 17-14, with a run margin of -0.5 runs per game. As the favorite, they are 19-18 against the run line, and as the underdog, they are 9-11.
The Blue Jays are 24-32 on the over/under line this season, and their games have averaged 8.5 runs. When the over/under line is set at 8 runs, they are 7-8-1. In 42.1% of their games, the line has been set higher than 8 runs.
Chris Bassitt Gets The Start For The Blue Jays
Right-hander Chris Bassitt gets the start for the Blue Jays today and will be looking to build off his last outing, where he didn’t give up a run. In that May 27th start vs. the White Sox, Bassitt went five innings, picking up the win. He only gave up five hits in that outing. Looking back at his last three outings, Bassitt has finished with a no-decision, win, and loss. Bassitt’s ERA for the season is 4.03, along with a record of 5-6. Opposing batters are hitting .258 off Bassitt this season.
Blue Jays Offense Breakdown
So far this season, the Blue Jays offense is averaging just 4 runs per game, which is 23rd in the league. They have been slightly better at home, putting up 3.9 runs per game. As a team, they are batting .233 and are near the bottom of the league in home runs. One positive is that they are the 2nd toughest team to strike out in the league and are 6th in walks.
Over the past seven games, Davis Schneider has gone 6/28 with two homers and nine RBIs. For the season, he is batting .239 with seven homers, which is 2nd on the team. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 9/28 in his last seven games. For the season, he is batting .292 and has gone deep five times.
Pirates vs Blue Jays Prediction
Our prediction for this Pirates vs. Blue Jays matchup is that the Pirates will pick up the win on the road by a score of 6-4. Given that the Pirates are the underdogs, you can get them at +141 on the money line, and that is our recommended bet for this game.
Looking at the starting pitchers, Chris Bassitt has the Blue Jays picking up the win, and if you’re looking to bet on the starting pitchers, Bassitt has a better chance of getting the win than Quinn Priester. However, our projections have Bassitt finishing with just six strikeouts compared to Priester with nine.
All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!
* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.
Last updated:June 2, 2024 Blue Jays, Pirates