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American League playoff hopefuls clash when the Blue Jays and Twins continue a four-game series at Target Field Friday night. Newcomer Tyler Mahle hits the hill for Minnesota here against former Twin Jose Berrios for Toronto.
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Here's how we homeworked this game for our <b>free baseball betting pick</b>.
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MLB Betting Odds<br />
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Friday's baseball betting lines opened Toronto at around -125 over Minnesota, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Early betting action then bumped that total to nine.
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Blue Jays-Twins MLB Betting Preview<br />
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Toronto grabbed the opener of this series Thursday night, 9-3. The Blue Jays went hitless until the fifth inning, then banged out 12 hits from there, five for extra bases. Toronto led 3-2, then pulled away with six runs in the eighth. The Jays won Thursday as -125 favorites on the dime line and covered against the run line at a price of +125. Also, Thursday's game played over a total of 8.5 runs. With Thursday's win, Toronto is 14-4 over its last 18 games. At 59-46 overall, the Blue Jays probably won't catch the Yankees in the AL East race, but they lead the AL wild-card race by two games over second-place Seattle and three games over third-place Tampa Bay. With Thursday's loss, the Twins are just 3-6 over their last nine games. At 55-50 overall, Minnesota leads the AL Central by one game over second-place Cleveland. These teams have split four meetings so far this season.
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Friday's Pitching Match-Up<br />
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Mahle is 7/19 on quality starts this season, which until earlier this week he spent with Cincinnati. Last Saturday, he held Baltimore to two runs and five hits through six innings of an 8-2 Reds win. And over his last three starts, he allowed seven runs and 12 hits through 17 innings, with seven walks against 17 strikeouts. Cincinnati, a team that's 20 games under .500, played 8-11 with Mahle this season, 4-2 his last six times out. This will be Mahle's first career start against Toronto. Berrios is 10/21 on quality starts this year and four for his last five. Last Saturday, he held Detroit to one run and three hits through seven frames of a 4-1 Blue Jays win. And over his last five starts, he's allowed ten runs and 27 hits through 31 innings, with five walks against 39 whiffs. Toronto is 16-5 with Berrios this season, 6-0 his last six times out. Over three career starts against Minnesota, two last year and one earlier this season, Berrios allowed eight runs and 12 hits through 19 2/3 innings. The Jays won two of those three games.
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Splits With the Sticks<br />
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Toronto is batting an ML-best .267 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .330 team OBP and a .441 team slugging percentage. Numbers like those lead us to rank this line-up among the top three in Baseball in this split. Minnesota is slashing .252/.322/.424 against right-handed pitching.
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The Bullpens<br />
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The Twins bullpen owns a 3.95 ERA this season, along with a 1.27 WHIP. The Blue Jays pen owns a 3.88 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP.
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<p><section></p>
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<span style="font-size:16px; color:#008000;">Get more details:</span> <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1605836">Jays vs. Twins 8/5/22 Betting Stats</a>
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MLB Betting Trends<br />
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The Blue Jays are 25-25 on the road this season and 48-33 against right-handed starters. The Twins are 29-24 at home and 38-36 against right-handed starters.
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Totals Report<br />
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The Over is 54-50 in Blue Jays games this season.
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The Over is 50-47 in Twins games.
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The Under is 28-21 at Target Field this season.
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