Blue Jays vs. Pirates prediction and odds for Saturday, May 6 (Oviedo's First Inning Problem)

The Pittsburgh Pirates did not want April to end, but eventually it had to and apparently so did their stretch of fantastic play. Yesterday, they were shut out at home by the Toronto Blue Jays and Chris Bassitt. That was their fourth-straight loss and they fell to 20-13. With the win, Toronto moves to 19-14, but still just fourth in the AL East. The Pirates maintained their 1.5 game lead in the NL Central. 

Tonight in Pittsburgh, it’ll be Jose Berrios against Johan Oviedo on the mound. Berrios is 2-3 with a 5.29 ERA on the season. Oviedo has been knocked around his last two times out and currently sits at 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA. 

Let’s get into the odds for Toronto and Pittsburgh at PNC Park, Game 2 of a three-game set. 

The Pirates desperately need this one and they desperately need a strong start from Johan Oviedo who has a first inning problem right now. He has an ERA of 10.50 in the first inning and all three of the home runs he’s allowed this year have come in the first. Hitters have an OPS of 1.037 against him in the first compared to a .591 OPS In the second and even a .495 OPS in the fourth inning. Oviedo needs to get out of the first inning to have a good start, but we could get some serious fireworks early because Berrios has a similar issue.

Jose Berrios has been up and down for the Blue Jays and his most recent start was another valley. He allowed five earned runs on 11 hits in 5.1 against the Red Sox. Boston struck for two runs in the first frame of that one to bring Berrios’s first inning ERA up to 7.50. 

The Pirates have not been able to score runs lately. They got shut out yesterday, but my best bet for this one is the first inning over 0.5 run (-118). For a full game bet, I’ll go with the under because Pittsburgh has scored six total runs in their last five games. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change