Blue Jays picks and props vs. Rangers Sept. 12: Bet on Max Scherzer to quiet Toronto's bats

A win on Tuesday would go a long way in helping the Toronto Blue Jays stave off the Texas Rangers in the AL wild-card race.

The pregame narrative: Texas took Game 1 of the four-game set at Rogers Centre with Monday's 10-4 win. Now Max Scherzer is on the hill to face Hyun Jin Ryu, and we're looking at a couple of ways to back the visitors.

Here are our Blue Jays picks vs. the Rangers on September 12.

MLB oddsas of 9:10 a.m. ET on 09/12/2023.

Blue Jays picks vs. Rangers

Best Bet: Most hits - Rangers (-136)

Toronto saw the full wrath of the Texas offence on Monday, as the Rangers put up 10 runs on 11 hits in the series opener.

On the season, the Rangers have the best batting average in the AL (.267). The Jays aren't far behind, mind you, at .260. But we have a few reasons to back Texas tonight.

First off, the Rangers are the visitors. That means they're guaranteed to see nine innings on offence no matter the score. Advantage, Texas.

Second, they've got a well-rested Scherzer on the mound. He's working on five days' rest, and his splits this year indicate that extra time off has been a very good thing.

Arguably Toronto's best hitter against Scherzer has been Brandon Belt (4-for-16 with two triples and a double vs. Scherzer), and Belt exited Monday's game with back spasms. If he's unavailable, that only helps our cause.

One last point: the Rangers have hammered lefties this year. They rank second in the AL in terms of batting average (.277) and OPS (.810) against southpaws.

Key stat: Scherzer has held opponents to a .178 batting average over his past 10 starts.

Quick picks

Rangers tie no bet - first 5 innings (-125): In limited work this season, Ryu has been a very solid pitcher for the Jays. But he should have his hands full against a team that loves to start hot.

Texas has been the second-most profitable team on the five-inning moneyline this year, according to ATS.io. The Rangers are 76-47-19 at the F5 mark, which means they've won or tied in 66.9% of their games.

In his own right, Scherzer is 6-2-2 on the F5 moneyline in his past 10. And the Rangers are 3-1-0 after five against the Jays this year.

Belt over 0.5 hits (-121): As mentioned, Belt's back tightened up in Monday's game and he had to leave early. So there's a chance he doesn't get into the starting lineup tonight.

But if he's in, this is a great price to invest in a player who steadily bats in the No. 4 spot or higher. And Belt has more experience against Scherzer (18 plate appearances) than any other Toronto hitter.

Since Aug. 1, Belt is batting .284 and has at least one hit in 17 of his past 22 starts.