MLB Saturday July 9th Blue Jays at Mariners Betting Preview
Seattle Has Taken First Two This Weekend
It took a couple extra innings, but Seattle was able to push their winning streak to six games with a 5-2 win on Friday night. That followed an 8-3 victory over Toronto in the series opener and what they hope will be a 7th straight victory in the July 9th Blue Jays at Mariners betting matchup.
Toronto is falling hard with their 7th loss in the last 8 games, and the Mariners are creeping up on them in the wild card race, just 2 games back – with obviously a lot of baseball yet to be played. The Blue Jays are still surprisingly a -118 favorite and the majority of the betting public is backing them. Is this a trap on Seattle?
Blue Jays Try to Stop the Skid
A 2-1 win over Oakland on Wednesday behind a gem from Jose Berrios is the only thing keeping Toronto away from an 8-game losing streak. The Blue Jays offense has been a major problem during this stretch of poor play, as they’ve been held to 3 runs or less in 7 of the last 8.
Now Toronto has to face a former teammate in Robbie Ray, who won the AL Cy Young award last season with the Blue Jays. Ray struggled early in the year with his new team, but is dialed back into last season’s form as he’s allowed a mere 3 runs combined over his last 5 starts.
The July 9th Blue Jays at Mariners betting matchup could be a low scoring affair if Alek Manoah (9-3, 2.33 ERA) continues to put together a great 2nd year in the majors. That being said Manoah has struggled a bit in giving up 3 HR in his last two starts, and his ERA has climbed gradually each month from 1.41 in April to 2.03 in May and 2.56 in June. He gave up 4 ER over 5.2 IP in a loss to the A’s on Monday.
Seattle Playing Well
Eugenio Suarez was able to keep the win streak in tact on Friday night with an 11th inning HR that gave the Mariners a 5-2 victory as -105 favorites. Suarez is 4-8 this series with 2 HR and 6 RBI so he’s on one right now.
Cal Raleigh and Dylan Moore also added HRs on Thursday night, and J.P. Crawford is hitting close to .400 over the past week. If Seattle can keep that type of offense going then Ray (7-6, 3.62 ERA) won’t need a whole lot more.
Seattle may have thought they picked up a dud when Ray was 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA in April and then 2-3 with a 5.34 ERA in May. He’s finding his stride lately though, going 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA June and starting off July by pitching into the 7th and striking out 12 in a 2-1 win over the A’s on Sunday.
Free July 9th Blue Jays at Mariners Betting Pick
Ray has a 0.80 ERA with 40 K’s in his last five starts. Combine that will Manoah having some minor issues lately for Toronto and this has to be a play on the Mariners, especially with EVEN value aiming for a 7th straight win.
Free Pick: Seattle +100
