Red Sox @ Blue Jays Odds, Line, Total, Favorite and Predictions – Free MLB Picks 5-10-11

Free MLB Picks and Odds: Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays Favorite, Moneyline, Total and Predictions 5/10/11: The Boston Red Sox have been on a wrecking streak since the second week of the season and they are finally playing baseball up to everybody’s expectations. The first couple of weeks of the season saw dark times cast over the entire ball club and many were questioning if the off-season analysis of this team was accurate. Many had the club running away with the AL East early, but their early play was not indicative of this view point and they sank to the bottom of the entire American league. Skip forward to tonight, the Red Sox boast a 17-18 record, which is not anywhere near their expectation, but they have been on a surge the last few weeks. They are playing fundamentally sound baseball and the entire line up is contributing with production. Carl Crawford, Boston’s big off-season acquisition, might finally be over his stint of ineptness. He is now consistently reaching base on a nightly basis and has pulled his average from the depths of the .100’s to a modest .211. His average is a far cry from his potential, but sticking with the theme of the entire franchise, it seems as though things are finally coming to fruition for Boston. Tonight the Sox will send Jon Lester to the mound tonight to open up their mini two game set with the Toronto Blue Jays. The hard throwing right hander is 4-1 on the season with a 2.33 ERA, and he is showing every indication that he is primed for a Cy Young mention. His style is to be assertive on the mound and pound the strike zone while giving up few free bases. Lester must also be weary of the Jays bats, Toronto feasts on fastball throwing pitchers.

Toronto is proving more and more with each passing game that they are in fact in rebuilding mode. They are simply to young of a club right now to win on a consistent basis. Talent is not a question on this club, but the leadership and day-to-day mental edge you need is just not in T Dot at the present moment. Pitching has also been a weak point to this point for the Canadian franchise and before too long we might be seeing some of the oft-spoken about talent in the minors get some big league action for the big club. Ricky Romero is just not you’re prototypical ace and he is having issues being the front man for the pitching rotation. He needs a few more years of being the under study to a true opening day pitcher to mold himself into the pitcher he has the potential to be. There is no question that Romero has the skills and requisites to excel at this level but he might have been thrown to the wolves at such a high level too early. Brandon Morrow, after coming back from elbow injury, has not been the pitcher he was a season ago. His control is terrible and his velocity is significantly down, teams are feasting on free bases from the 6’5” hurler. He is compensating for his weak fastballs with unpolished cutters and breaking balls, pitches that Morrow has never been accustomed too. Going forward, the Jays will most likely realize that it will be in their best interest to see how their talent in AAA can perform at the next level in order to build for next season.

Tonight we will recommend a play on the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays, for all of their ineptness’ thus far, perform quite admirably on opening games in series’ sets. Toronto has won the first game of a series 70% of the time going back to the commencement of last season. They also love to play against their rivals in the Red Sox and Yankees at home, so I expect the urgency to show tonight early. The Jays send their rookie sensation in Kyle Drabek (2-2, 4.50) to the mound tonight, who will be seeking his 3rd win on the season. Drabek has been a bright spot on the Jays mundane rotation, he is blossoming into what looks like an ace. He has an ensemble of A+ pitches and he feasts on ground ball outs, rarely do we see batters connect on homers or doubles with this talented pitcher. The Red Sox, who are coming off of a hard earned series win over the Twins, have a list of ailments across the entire board. We will consider the Jays earning another opening game win tonight against their nemesis in the Boston Red Sox. Cheers!

Free Pick: Toronto Blue Jays +140(moneyline)
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