No one is hitting the ball harder than the Jays at the moment, and it isn’t just the infamous Boston series. They are 8-2, settling in with a new manager, and playing a Cardinals team missing 2 key players due to Covid border issues. Berrios starts for the Jays. His results have been very mixed this season, but he appears to have re-found his form, with four straight quality starts in July, allowing 8 runs over 23+ innings, and with a strikeout to walk ratio of 29 to 4. The Jays’ bullpen has been very effective of late, which is not always the case.

The Cardinals have also been hitting well but will miss those 2 very big bats in the line-up, and aren’t the best road team. They have won just 1 of 3 since the break, and send out a very young right hander to start in Pallante. He started the season as a reliever and has just 8 starts under his belt. Pallante was very good in June with an ERA of under three, but has given up a ton of hits in July and seen his ERA climb very significantly.

The Jays are a streaky team, and their lineup is absolutely on fire at the moment, from lead-off right through to ninth batter. Berrios is a very fine starter when right. They are a heavy favorite, which would usually not be warranted against a team like the Cardinals, however the Cards are very much depleted for this series. Pallante may have his hands full on Tuesday. Take the Jays on the run line at -1 1/2. 10*