<p>The Blue Jays will get a second look at Ronel Blanco Wednesday, who threw a no-hitter against them on April 1st in Houston. Blanco has remained the Astros&#8217; best starter since that point and owns a 2.49 ERA across 90 and 1/3 IP this season.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>Toronto will start Yusei Kikuchi in this matchup, who has struggled to a 7.12 ERA over his last seven outings.</p>
<p>Let’s dive into the odds and relevant game notes for Wednesday&#8217;s matchup between the Yankees and Blue Jays:</p>
<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold">Astros vs. Blue Jays odds</h1>
<div class="mt-2 mb-2">
<div class="mb-5 flex max-w-2xl flex-row overflow-x-auto">
<table class="border-spacing-2 table-auto border-collapse border border-black">
<tbody>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Astros Moneyline Odds</strong></div>
</td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">-115</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Blue Jays Moneyline Odds</strong></div>
</td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">-105</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Runline Odds</strong></div>
</td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">Astros -1.5 (+150), Blue Jays +1.5 (-180)</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Over/Under</strong></div>
</td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">Over 8.5 runs (-105, Under 8.5 runs (-115)</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Time/Date</strong></div>
</td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">July 2, 5:07 p.m. ET</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">TV</strong></div>
</td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Broadcast:</strong> Sportsnet, Sportsnet+</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Houston Astros</h2>
<p>After Spencer Arrighetti blew up early on in Tuesday&#8217;s matchup, the Astros certainly didn&#8217;t quit, as they made it a one-run game, but were unable to Jeremy Pena home after a lead-off double in the ninth. They put up eight hits in the game from an xBA of .267, and struck out six times.</p>
<p>The Astros offence has been in dominant of late, and is going to look pretty scary when Kyle Tucker returns to the lineup in the near future. They have hit to a wRC+ of 116 over the last 30 days, with a .440 slug rate. They own the third-lowest K-rate in the league over that span at 18.9%.</p>
<p>Houston has been effective against left-handed pitching in particular recently, as it has hit to a wRC+ of 131 over the last month with an OPS of .803.</p>
<p>Over the entirety of the season, the Astros own the league&#8217;s second-best expected batting average. They were widely projected to be one of the best offensive teams in baseball this season, and their recent tear seems to just be a side living up to its potential.</p>
<p>What was far less expected was Ronel Blanco to be one of the A.L.&#8217;s better starting pitchers more than halfway through the season. Blanco does look to be a strong regression candidate though, as he owns an xERA of 3.55 and an xFIP of 4.21. Thanks to a .183 BABIP in at-bats with runners on Blanco has stranded 86.7% of base-runners, which is the highest mark of any qualified starter this season.</p>
<p>Blanco holds a Stuff+ rating of 95, with a Location+ rating of 100. His fastball averages 93.5, and holds a Stuff+ rating of just 83.</p>
<h2>Toronto Blue Jays</h2>
<p>The Blue Jays continue to be one of the worst teams in the league versus high-velocity fastballs, and that continues to be a great way to find success against their scrappy lineup. Blanco&#8217;s fastball does not rate out well, and batters own an xSLG rate of .551 against them. Chances are the Jays will see a steady diet of fastballs here, and their effectiveness against Blanco&#8217;s fastball will be an important storyline in this matchup.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays have hit to a wRC+ of 103 versus right-handed pitching over the last 30 days and a wRC+ of 120 versus righties over the last two weeks.</p>
<p>As the offence has finally started to produce runs at a reasonable rate the alarmingly bad form of the bullpen has drawn more attention. Over the last 30 days Toronto&#8217;s bullpen owns an ERA of 5.10, the third-worst mark in baseball.</p>
<p>Kikuchi continues to underperform the tremendous ratings of his arsenal. He has allowed an xBA of .299 over the last five outings, and has been hard-hit 48% of the time. He&#8217;s allowed several home runs with runners on, which has helped make a bad run of play even worse than it needs to be.</p>
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<h2>Predictions for Astros vs Blue Jays</h2>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">This looks like a good matchup to target another high-scoring game similar to last night&#8217;s thriller. Blanco has run with some favourable luck on batted balls in play in key moments. As a soft throwing righty he should not match up well against the Blue Jays offence, and we should see Toronto hit him far better the second time around.</div>
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<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">The Astros&#8217; offence is on fire right now and should continue to be one of the most productive units in baseball moving forward. Kikuchi&#8217;s stuff continues to rate out quite well and he could be a pitcher-to-back sometime soon, but I&#8217;m not sure today is the day considering how tough Houston has been lately on opposing pitchers.</div>
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<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">The Blue Jays bullpen has been a full-blown disaster of late too, and could easily blow this game if Kikuchi does bounce-back with a stronger showing.</div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330"></div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">It feels like there are a lot of ways for this game to get past 8.5 runs to get there in this matchup, and there is value in betting the over at anything better than -115.</div>
<p><strong>Best Bet: Over 8.5 Runs -105 (Play to -115)</strong></p>

The Blue Jays will get a second look at Ronel Blanco Wednesday, who threw a no-hitter against them on April 1st in Houston. Blanco has remained the Astros' best starter since that point and owns a 2.49 ERA across 90 and 1/3 IP this season.


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Toronto will start Yusei Kikuchi in this matchup, who has struggled to a 7.12 ERA over his last seven outings.

Let’s dive into the odds and relevant game notes for Wednesday's matchup between the Yankees and Blue Jays:
<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold">Astros vs. Blue Jays odds</h1>
<div class="mt-2 mb-2">
<div class="mb-5 flex max-w-2xl flex-row overflow-x-auto">
<table class="border-spacing-2 table-auto border-collapse border border-black">
<tbody>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Astros Moneyline Odds</strong></div></td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">-115</div></td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Blue Jays Moneyline Odds</strong></div></td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">-105</div></td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Runline Odds</strong></div></td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">Astros -1.5 (+150), Blue Jays +1.5 (-180)</div></td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Over/Under</strong></div></td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">Over 8.5 runs (-105, Under 8.5 runs (-115)</div></td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Time/Date</strong></div></td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit">July 2, 5:07 p.m. ET</div></td>
</tr>
<tr class="">
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 202px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">TV</strong></div></td>
<td class="border-collapse whitespace-nowrap border border-black p-1" style="width: 291px;">
<div class="w-fit"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Broadcast:</strong> Sportsnet, Sportsnet+</div></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Houston Astros</h2>
After Spencer Arrighetti blew up early on in Tuesday's matchup, the Astros certainly didn't quit, as they made it a one-run game, but were unable to Jeremy Pena home after a lead-off double in the ninth. They put up eight hits in the game from an xBA of .267, and struck out six times.

The Astros offence has been in dominant of late, and is going to look pretty scary when Kyle Tucker returns to the lineup in the near future. They have hit to a wRC+ of 116 over the last 30 days, with a .440 slug rate. They own the third-lowest K-rate in the league over that span at 18.9%.

Houston has been effective against left-handed pitching in particular recently, as it has hit to a wRC+ of 131 over the last month with an OPS of .803.

Over the entirety of the season, the Astros own the league's second-best expected batting average. They were widely projected to be one of the best offensive teams in baseball this season, and their recent tear seems to just be a side living up to its potential.

What was far less expected was Ronel Blanco to be one of the A.L.'s better starting pitchers more than halfway through the season. Blanco does look to be a strong regression candidate though, as he owns an xERA of 3.55 and an xFIP of 4.21. Thanks to a .183 BABIP in at-bats with runners on Blanco has stranded 86.7% of base-runners, which is the highest mark of any qualified starter this season.

Blanco holds a Stuff+ rating of 95, with a Location+ rating of 100. His fastball averages 93.5, and holds a Stuff+ rating of just 83.
<h2>Toronto Blue Jays</h2>
The Blue Jays continue to be one of the worst teams in the league versus high-velocity fastballs, and that continues to be a great way to find success against their scrappy lineup. Blanco's fastball does not rate out well, and batters own an xSLG rate of .551 against them. Chances are the Jays will see a steady diet of fastballs here, and their effectiveness against Blanco's fastball will be an important storyline in this matchup.

The Blue Jays have hit to a wRC+ of 103 versus right-handed pitching over the last 30 days and a wRC+ of 120 versus righties over the last two weeks.

As the offence has finally started to produce runs at a reasonable rate the alarmingly bad form of the bullpen has drawn more attention. Over the last 30 days Toronto's bullpen owns an ERA of 5.10, the third-worst mark in baseball.

Kikuchi continues to underperform the tremendous ratings of his arsenal. He has allowed an xBA of .299 over the last five outings, and has been hard-hit 48% of the time. He's allowed several home runs with runners on, which has helped make a bad run of play even worse than it needs to be.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330"></div>
<h2>Predictions for Astros vs Blue Jays</h2>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">This looks like a good matchup to target another high-scoring game similar to last night's thriller. Blanco has run with some favourable luck on batted balls in play in key moments. As a soft throwing righty he should not match up well against the Blue Jays offence, and we should see Toronto hit him far better the second time around.</div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330"></div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">The Astros' offence is on fire right now and should continue to be one of the most productive units in baseball moving forward. Kikuchi's stuff continues to rate out quite well and he could be a pitcher-to-back sometime soon, but I'm not sure today is the day considering how tough Houston has been lately on opposing pitchers.</div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330"></div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">The Blue Jays bullpen has been a full-blown disaster of late too, and could easily blow this game if Kikuchi does bounce-back with a stronger showing.</div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330"></div>
<div data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330">It feels like there are a lot of ways for this game to get past 8.5 runs to get there in this matchup, and there is value in betting the over at anything better than -115.</div>
<strong>Best Bet: Over 8.5 Runs -105 (Play to -115)</strong>

MLB Betting Preview (July 3): Astros vs. Blue Jays predictions

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