Between the Chalk: MLB ALCS – Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals Preview
2 min read
Captain Blue Jays - aka Warren Baxter 17 of Oakville gets ready for the game as the Toronto Blue Jays play their home opener against the Cleveland Indians at The Rogers Centre April 2 2013 DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR
The Toronto Blue Jays (98-74, RL W/L 95-77) get a chance to beat the odds of winning three straight to advance in the MLB Playoffs again on Friday night when they travel to Kansas City to play the Royals (101-71, RL W/L 94-78) in Game 6 of the ALCS.
Pitcher Marco Estrada did his part to force Game 6 after holding the Royals to one run on three hits in Game 5 after a 14 run, 15 hit barrage by Kansas City in Game 4. Estrada’s only mistake was a 2-out pitch to Sal Perez in the 8th inning that cleared the right field wall at Rogers Center.
Estrada got the win, going 7 2/3, striking out 5 and walking one. He kept Royal batters off balance, facing the minimum batters through 6 innings (he did give up a leadoff 4th inning single, but was erased by a double play) until he gave up a two out walk in the top of the 7th.
Game 5 was close until the Jays broke out in the 6th, scoring four runs on only one hit, a bases loaded double off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki. Prior to the double, KC pitcher Edinson Volquez walked three batters and hit Josh Donaldson with a pitch.
Experts at AmericasBookie.com currently have the Blue Jays the road favorite in Game 6, with their moneyline set at -136 and the Royals at +126. Although there have been 8 or more runs scored in all but one game of the five played in this series so far, the UNDER/OVER is set at 7.5.
David Price will toe the rubber for the Jays in Game 6, and as I’m sure he doesn’t need any more motivation, his 0-7 record in his last seven postseason starts should provide some. He started Game 2 and lost on October 17th, going 6.2 innings while giving up 5 runs on 6 hits. Going into the 7th inning, Price had faced one more than the minimum, giving up a first inning single to leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar.
The Royals send Yordano Ventura to the mound to help punch their ticket to face the New York Mets in the World Series. Ventura is 0-1 with 3 starts this postseason, giving up 16 hits in 12.1 innings with 16 strikeouts.
Kansas City are the heavy favorite to win the series at -245, as seen at Americasbookie.com, while the Blue Jays are paying +205 to complete the comeback to host Game 1 of the World Series. For more information on how to bet futures, visit Americasbookie.com.
