White Sox vs. Blue Jays picks and odds: Bet Toronto and the under for series opener
The Toronto Blue Jays host the Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre tonight to kick off a six-game homestand.
The pregame narrative: Toronto is catching Chicago in quite a slide, and tonight’s pitching matchup leans in the Blue Jays’ favour. We’re backing Toronto a couple of different ways and taking the under on the game total.
MLB odds as of 9:55 a.m. ET on 04/24/23.
White Sox vs. Blue Jays picks
Best Bet: Blue Jays -1 (-113)
We’d love to advise a proper run line pick on the Blue Jays (-1.5 at +125), but the White Sox have been rather pesky for a team that’s 4-9 on the road.
Three of Chicago’s road losses have been decided by just a run, which is why we’re settling for Toronto -1 at what still seems to be a reasonable price.
Tonight’s pitching matchup features two veterans trending in opposite directions, which works in the Blue Jays’ favour.
Chris Bassitt has put some distance between himself and a disastrous season debut, posting three consecutive quality starts for the Blue Jays. He’s coming off 6.1 innings of scoreless ball against the defending champion Astros, which gave way to a 4-2 win.
Chicago’s Lance Lynn did his best work against Houston as well, but that was four starts ago. He’s allowed 16 runs in 15.2 innings since — looking nothing like the second runner-up for AL Cy Young from two years ago.
Also, the White Sox have lost all four of Lynn’s starts so far.
Key stat: Chicago is 2-8 in its past 10 games and has lost five in a row on the road.
Quick picks
Blue Jays -0.5, first five innings (-107): The White Sox have had one of the worst bullpens so far (6.22 ERA, 28th in MLB), but this pick gives us a chance to cut some juice while zeroing in on the starting matchup.
The White Sox are 1-3-0 on the F5 moneyline — with a minus-six run differential — when Lynn is on the mound.
The Jays haven’t been fantastic on the F5 moneyline, but they are 2-1-2 in their past five. And we should see another good start from this club to kick off the homestand.
Under 9 runs (-120): Despite our subtle bashing of Lynn and the White Sox’s bullpen, taking the under is the right move from a trend basis.
Chicago has gone under this number in four of its past five games. In road games, this under is 7-4-2 for the Sox.
Toronto is already very familiar with playing low-scoring games. Dating back to April 12, the Jays have pushed or gone under nine runs in 10 of 11 games.
