Pittsburgh Pirates (20-12) vs Toronto Blue Jays (18-14)
Game Info: Friday, May 5, 2023 at 6:35 pm (PNC Park)
Rich Hill (3-2) (4.45) vs Chris Bassitt (3-2) (5.18)
Betting Odds: Pittsburgh Pirates +120 / Toronto Blue Jays -140 --- Over/Under: 9 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Toronto Blue Jays will play the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 1 of their series on Friday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Blue Jays Preview
The Toronto Blue Jays are 18-14 this season and they have lost five games in a row. Toronto is coming off of a series loss to the Red Sox, where they lost all four games in the series. The Toronto pitching staff has a 4.36 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP, and a .248 opponent batting average this year. The Blue Jays offense has scored 151 runs with a .255 batting average and a .329 on base percentage. Bo Bichette is batting .331 with seven home runs and 22 RBI’s for the Blue Jays. The projected starting pitcher for Toronto is Chris Bassitt, who is 3-2 with a 5.18 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP over 33.0 innings pitched this season.
Pirates Preview
The Pittsburgh Pirates are 20-12 this season and they have lost four games in a row. Pittsburgh is coming off of a series loss to Tampa Bay, where they lost all three games. The Pittsburgh pitching staff has a 3.60 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, and a .240 opponent batting average. The Pirates offense has scored 160 runs with a .255 batting average and a .335 on base percentage this season. Bryan Reynolds is batting .325 with five home runs and 23 RBI’s for the Pirates. The projected starting pitcher for Pittsburgh is Rich Hill, who is 3-2 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP over 32.1 innings pitched this year.
Trends
Toronto is 4-0 in their last 4 Friday games and 0-5 in their last 5 games. The under is 4-0-1 in Toronto’s last 5 Friday games. Pittsburgh is 6-1 in their last 7 home games and 8-3 in their last 11 game one’s of a series. The over is 6-2 in Pittsburgh’s last 8 games. Toronto is 5-0 in these two teams last 5 head to head meetings.
Pick
Both of these teams have started the season playing well, but they come into this series with a losing streak. Pittsburgh has had some very good pitching this season and they have a team ERA of 3.60. Toronto has a team ERA of 4.36 and has allowed at least six runs in five straight games. Toronto is starting Chris Bassitt, who has allowed six earned runs over his last 17.2 innings pitched. The Pirates will turn to Rich Hill, who has pitched very well after a rocky start to the year. I am going to take Pittsburgh as a home underdog.
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David’s Pick Pirates ML
AUTHOR: David Racey
Mitch's Take...
