Houston Astros at Toronto Blue Jays

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HOU	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	5	1
TOR	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	—	4	11	0

Monday's series opener kicks off at 7:07 PM ET at Rogers Centre, and the vibes around these two teams could not be more different right now. The Astros are 35-41 and have been mashing the bottom of the AL West all month, while the Blue Jays have stacked three straight at Fenway to climb back to within a game of .500.

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FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Astros(35-41)

WWLLW

2

+1.5-186+122o7.5+122

Blue Jays(37-38)

WWWLL

4

-1.5+178-125u7.5-122

Best BetBlue Jays -136

Pregame

Toronto is the obviously better team right now — winners of 3 straight on the road against Boston, while Houston is 2-3 in its last 5 and getting nothing from the middle of the order. Until the Astros' bats show a pulse, the Jays are the side at home with the momentum and the lineup health edge.

The pitching matchup is the only thing the Jays will not have a definitive read on heading in, because Max Scherzer just landed on the 15-day IL with back spasms and Toronto is scrambling rotation pieces around him. Houston is in the same boat from a different angle — Lance McCullers Jr., Cristian Javier, Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Brandon Walter are all on the shelf, which is a wild amount of rotation depth to be missing in one trip north.

Hunter Brown

(1-0)·3.38 ERA

Jun 16 vs Tigers

ND

5.2IP

1ER

7K

3BB

92P

06/22 Lineup

Dylan Cease

(5-4)·2.79 ERA

Jun 16 @ Red Sox

W

5.0IP

0ER

7K

4BB

108P

06/22 Lineup

The Astros' offense is the louder problem though. They scored 4, 4 and 0 in their last 3 games against Detroit and Kansas City and got blown out 9-3 in the middle of that stretch. Jeremy Pena and Isaac Paredes have been carrying the heavier load, but with Carlos Correa out for the year post-ankle surgery and LaMonte Wade Jr. on the IL, there is not a lot of margin to play with on nights when the top of the order goes quiet.

Houston Astros

(35-41)

Jun 17Wvs Tigers4-2

Jun 17Wvs Tigers4-2

Jun 16Lvs Tigers3-9

Jun 14L@ Royals0-4

Jun 13W@ Royals8-7

Toronto Blue Jays

(37-38)

Jun 18W@ Red Sox4-3

Jun 17W@ Red Sox3-0

Jun 16W@ Red Sox6-1

Jun 14Lvs Yankees3-8

Jun 13Lvs Yankees1-3

Toronto has the better story going. The Jays just took 3 straight from the Red Sox by scores of 6-1, 3-0 and 4-3, and Daulton Varsho is trending toward an activation off the 10-day IL this week per Blue Jays manager John Schneider. Getting his glove back in center alone tightens up a defense that has been carrying the rotation through the Scherzer/Berrios/Bieber/Francis avalanche of arm injuries.

Houston Astros

(11)

• Day-To-DayWalker Janek (C) — Double-A Corpus Christi placed Janek on its 7-day injured list Sunday due to an unspecified injury.05/08
• 10-Day-ILBraden Shewmake (SS) — The Astros announced Monday that Shewmake (adductor) has taken part in baseball activity and is working his way through a running progression at the team's facility in Florida, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.06/15
• 10-Day-ILLaMonte Wade Jr. (1B) — Wade left Monday's game against the Angels with right hamstring soreness, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.06/09
• 10-Day-ILNick Allen (SS) — Allen was removed from Sunday's game against the Athletics due to left hamstring discomfort.06/08
• 15-Day-ILLance McCullers Jr. (SP) — Astros manager Joe Espada said Saturday that McCullers (shoulder) has resumed throwing off a mound, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.06/15
• 15-Day-ILBennett Sousa (RP) — The Astros announced Friday that Sousa (elbow) has begun a throwing progression, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.06/04
• 60-Day-ILCristian Javier (SP) — Astros manager Joe Espada said Wednesday that Javier (shoulder) will make a fourth minor-league rehab start before returning from the 60-day injured list, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.06/17
• 60-Day-ILRonel Blanco (SP) — Blanco (elbow) tossed 40 pitches in a simulated game Saturday and will soon start a rehab stint in the Florida Complex League, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.06/13
• 60-Day-ILBrandon Walter (SP) — The Astros announced Friday that Walter (elbow) is in the midst of a throwing progression at the team's complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.06/04
• 60-Day-ILCarlos Correa (SS) — Correa is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday in Houston to repair the tendon in his left ankle, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.06/02
• 60-Day-ILHayden Wesneski (SP) — Wesneski (elbow) has progressed to throwing live batting practice this week, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.05/29

Toronto Blue Jays

(15)

• Day-To-DayGeovanny Jesus Planchart (C) — no05/08
• Day-To-DayChay Yeager (RP) — Yeager will undergo season-ending UCL surgery on his right elbow Wednesday, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.05/08
• 10-Day-ILDaulton Varsho (CF) — Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Thursday that Varsho (wrist) could be activated from the 10-day injured list when first eligible Saturday, but he will "have to do a lot today and tomorrow" in order to make that happen, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.06/18
• 10-Day-ILLenyn Sosa (2B) — Sosa (wrist) could begin a rehab assignment next week, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.06/18
• 10-Day-ILAddison Barger (RF) — Barger (elbow) might not begin a rehab assignment until early next week, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.06/18
• 15-Day-ILMax Scherzer (SP) — The Blue Jays placed Scherzer on the 15-day injured list Wednesday due to back spasms.06/17
• developmental listFernando Perez (P)
• 60-Day-ILAnthony Santander (RF) — Santander (shoulder) could resume hitting within the next week, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.06/18
• 60-Day-ILShane Bieber (SP) — Bieber (elbow) built up to 80 pitches Wednesday in what's likely to be his final rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo, giving up five runs on seven hits and four walks over five innings. He struck out two.06/18
• 60-Day-ILYimi Garcia (RP) — Garcia (elbow) struck out the side Tuesday for Triple-A Buffalo and is scheduled for another rehab outing Thursday, reports Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca.06/17
• 60-Day-ILLazaro Estrada (RP) — Estrada (shoulder) struck out three over three perfect innings of relief Sunday in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Buffalo.06/09
• 60-Day-ILJoe Mantiply (RP) — Mantiply will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair some damage in his left knee, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.06/04
• 60-Day-ILJose Berrios (SP) — Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that Berrios underwent full Tommy John surgery Wednesday in addition to having a stress fracture repaired, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.05/27
• 60-Day-ILCody Ponce (SP) — Ponce underwent surgery Friday to repair the ACL in his right knee, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.05/08
• 60-Day-ILBowden Francis (SP) — The Blue Jays placed Francis (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Wednesday.05/08

Houston is 35-41 for a reason. The pitching depth is shredded, the lineup is leaning on 2 guys, and they are now walking into a building where the home team is the hottest version of itself it has been in weeks. Monday's opener feels like a Toronto game to lose — and given the way the Jays just went into Fenway and choked the Red Sox out, that is not a great spot for the visitors.