Toronto Blue Jays vs St. Louis Cardinals Predictions, Odds, Picks

• Blue Jays trying to get ice cold offense going
• Aces on the mound for series opener
• X-factors to watch

Blue Jays vs Cardinals Odds

Blue Jays vs Cardinals Prediction and Picks

The Blue Jays have managed to win each of their past two series, despite scoring more than three runs just once over the past week. St. Louis enters play fresh off a sweep of the Pirates where they scored five runs or more in every contest and 28 total in three games. This game depends which Jose Berrios shows up for the Blue Jays, but either way we can’t trust their offense right now.

Picks:

Blue Jays to cover the spread (+100)

Garcia’s 2021 record: (13-8)

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Betting Trends to Watch (as of 5.18)

• Blue Jays are 4-1 in their last 5 overall
• Blue Jays are 7-2 in their last 9 Monday games
• Blue Jays are 15-5 in their last 20 interleague games
• Blue Jays are 9-4 in their last 13 vs National League Central
• Blue Jays are 1-4 in their last 5 vs a team with a winning record
• Blue Jays are 1-6 in their last 7 road games
• Under is 7-0-1 in Blue Jays last 8 overall
• Under is 6-0-1 in Blue Jays last 7 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5
• Blue Jays are 1-4 in the last 5 head-to-head meetings
• Under is 7-3-1 in Blue Jays last 11 Monday games
• Cardinals are 11-5 in their last 16 interleague games
• Cardinals are 10-4 in their last 14 home games vs a team with a winning record
• Under is 5-1 in Cardinals last 6 Monday games
• Under is 5-2 in Cardinals last 7 interleague home games
• Over is 13-4 in Cardinals last 17 vs American League East

St. Louis Offense Is Scorching, Blue Jays Ice Cold

The good news for the Blue Jays is recently they’ve still been winning games and that’s what’s most important. But it’s going to be tough to sustain winning frequently if the offensive output in May is any sort of trend going forward.

The Blue Jays, thought to be one of the best offenses in baseball entering the season, are just 24th in baseball in runs scored. The offense has been ice cold this month, only scoring more than five runs in a single game twice since April 29.

The Blue Jays have been held to three runs or fewer in eight of their past 10 games. Part of the issue is a number of Toronto’s key offensive weapons have been in recent slumps. In the past week Teoscar Hernandez (1-for-23), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (4-for 21), George Springer (5-for-22) and Matt Chapman (4-for-17) have just one home run and one double combined in the past week.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, came off an 18-run outburst when they completed the sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the third time in the past 12 games they’ve scored at least 10 runs. Thanks to their recent outburst, the Cardinals now have scored the third most runs in all of baseball.

Paul Goldschmidt (who should win NL Player of the Week) has been a major reason behind that is on an absolute tear. In the past seven games the veteran is 16-for-31 (.516) with seven doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs – good for a 1.547 OPS.

Capable Pitchers Go Head-To-Head

Which Jose Berrios is going to show up on Monday? That’s a major question mark in this game.

Berrios threw seven shutout innings his last time out against Seattle, giving up six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in the victory. However in his previous two outings, he’d allowed 11 earned runs in just 10 combined innings, both of which ended in losses.

That’s why on the year, his numbers lie somewhere in the middle, at 3-2 overall with a 4.83 ERA and 1.49 WHIP.

For the Cardinals, Miles Mikolas has been a model of consistency all season long. The 33-year-old from Jupiter FLorida has not given up more than two runs in any of his eight starts this season.

That consistency is why he ranks No. 5 in the MLB in ERA (1.68) and 13th in WHIP (0.99), while striking out 36 batters in 48.1 innings. The Cardinals are 5-1 in Mikolas’ six starts that aren’t against the New York Mets.

X-factors to Watch

The X-factor in this one to watch for St. Louis is Tommy Edman. The second baseman is great against right-handed pitching with a .367 OBP this season and had a big day Sunday, going 3-for-6 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored.

For Toronto, we’re going to focus on Santiago Espinal. The second baseman has been great away from home, hitting .279 with a .343 OBP and is in the midst of a 14-game hitting streak.

How to Watch Blue Jays vs Cardinals