Baseball Predictions Preview: The Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds will both be looking to pick up a series victory today when the clubs play the rubber game of this three game Inter League series at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Reds will be sending out their most productive pitcher, right hander Edinson Volquez (10-2, 1.71 ERA) to the mound looking for a road win. The Blue Jays will counter with RHP Jesse Litsch (7-4, 4.06 ERA).
Baseball Predictions Betting Line: Oddsmakers at online sports wagering giant Bodog (Bodoglife.com) have installed the Reds as -114 money line favorites with an 8-run total. The Blue Jays are getting +104 money line juice home underdogs.
Baseball Predictions Pick: The Reds are red-hot behind their top arm Volques who will be in this years Cy Young hunt. The Jays will have a difficult time dealing with the young right hander. Now you know why the Blue Jays are home dogs today. Take the Reds -114 ML.
Volquez hit the 10-win mark Friday night, giving up just two runs in a 4-2 victory over the Yankees. It was an impressive outing for the right-hander, who scattered seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts in seven innings. A balk and a wild pitch marked Volquez's few mistakes of the evening, as runners advanced to third base in both instances. But he used a solid changeup and fastball to quiet the Yankees offense.
Litsch has been fighting through a rough stretch of starts, going 0-3 with a 6.46 ERA over his past four outings. During that span, the 23-year-old right-hander has allowed 17 runs on 33 hits with nine strikeouts and five walks in 23 2/3 innings. In his previous seven games, Litsch went 5-0 with a 1.96 ERA and 21 strikeouts vs. two walks over 46 innings. On Saturday, Litsch picked up a loss against Pittsburgh after yielding six runs on five hits, including three home runs, over six innings.
Jay Bruce hit a sacrifice fly RBI in the 10th inning on Wednesday to lift the Reds to a 6-5 win as +155 underdogs against the Blue Jays. The game's 11 runs made it OVER the posted over/under (7.5).
Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run homer for the Reds. Jared Burton tossed two scoreless innings for the win, and Francisco Cordero notched his 15th save.
Joe Inglett hit a two-run blast for the Blue Jays, and finished 2-for-4 at the plate. Brian Wolfe gave up the winning run and was tagged with the loss.
The Blue Jays were favored at -170 in the contest.
