Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles 8/8/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

A seven-game Monday MLB schedule will get underway with a battle between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays (60-48) are a game below .500 on the road and sit atop the AL Wild Card standings. On Sunday, Toronto scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly during a 3-2 road victory against Minnesota in ten innings.

Thirty-one year old southpaw Yusei Kikuchi (4-5 4.86 ERA) will take the mound for the Blue Jays in this matchup. Through 74 innings of work, Kikuchi has struck out 84 batters and sports a subpar 1.47 WHIP.

The Baltimore Orioles have won 31 of their 52 home games and are currently 1.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race. On Sunday, Baltimore was limited to four hits and struck out seven times during an 8-1 home loss versus Pittsburgh. SP Spenser Watkins (4-2) gave up four runs in five plus innings and took the loss for the Orioles, who fell to 56-52 on the year. 

The Orioles will give the nod to thirty-one year old righty Jordan Lyles (8-8 4.40 ERA) in the series opener. Baltimore has won Lyles’ last three starts and he has allowed five runs over his last 17 frames.