Toronto and Seattle wrap up their weekend series on Sunday in the August 25th MLB betting free pick. So far the two squads have had some high scoring affairs with the Mariners getting a 7-4 win on Friday with Toronto returning the favor 7-5 on Saturday. Toronto is 6-2 in their last 8 in Seattle, yet the Mariners are pretty lofty -151 favorites in the series finale. Is the Seattle pitching edge that substantial?
What Can the Blue Jays Expect From Buchholz Sunday?
Clay Buchholz is expected to get the start for the Blue Jays in the August 25th MLB betting free pick. The right-hander is kind of an unknown in this one considering this will be his first appearance since way back on May 5th. Buchholz had been on the 60-day IL with a muscle strain in his back. It’s probably not going to be a long outing for Buchholz even though he has made 3 rehab starts in the meantime. Toronto only received 4.0 IP from Trent Thornton on Friday and used Wilmer Font as an opener on Saturday so their bullpen is a bit thin heading into this one.
Toronto put up some good offensive numbers on Saturday, plating 7 runs on despite being outhit 7-9 by Seattle. The Blue Jays had 11 hits on Friday night powered by a big night from Bo Bichette who has gone 6-10 in the series. Saturday’s victory snapped a 6-game skid for Toronto, one in which they were held to 3 runs or less in 5 games. The O/U for Sunday’s contest is on the high side at 9.5, especially since there’s very little familiarity between both offenses and the two starting pitchers.
Seattle Offense On a Scoring Run Lately
One reason the ‘over’ looks like a solid play in the August 25th MLB betting free pick is because the Mariners offense has found a spark as of late. They did lose on Saturday, but it was also the 6th straight game that Seattle had scored at least 5 runs. J.P. Crawford is hitting .429 over that span and catcher Tom Murphy has been on a roll with 4 HR in his last 13 AB. Kyle Seager has also maintained his strong season going 8 for his last 23 with 2 HR and 4 doubles. Seager is one of only two Mariners players who have faced Buchholz and he’s fared well, going 4-8 with a HR.
The Mariners go with Marco Gonzales on Sunday as he shoots for a career high 14th win. The left-hander has allowed 3ER or less in 5 of his last 6 starts but he did give up 2 HR his last outing and surrendered 11 hits in the appearance before that. The Mariners are 4-1 in Gonzales’ last 5 home starts despite the fact his ERA is 4.60 at T-Mobile Park. This will be the first time this year that Gonzales matches up with Toronto and he should have success considering the Blue Jays are 26-56 in their last 82 vs. LH starters.
Top Trends:
- Blue Jays are 1-6 last 7 overall
- Blue Jays are 0-6 last 6 Sunday games
- Mariners are 1-4 last 5 home games
- Mariners are 0-5 in Gonzalez’ last 5 Sunday starts
- Over is 5-0 in Mariners last 5 overall
- Blue Jays are 6-2 last 8 in Seattle
MLB Free Pick
Seattle is priced way too high for the way the Blue Jays have played at T-Mobile Park in their last 8 games. At the same time, what can Toronto expect from Buchholz in his first big league start since early May? Gonzales is a little more iffy than his numbers show while the potent Seattle offense should be able to welcome Buchholz back to the bigs with a bang.
Free Pick: Blue Jays / Mariners *Over* 9.5
