Four things to watch as Blue Jays take on AL West-leading Astros | Series Preview/Know Your Foe: …

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Four things to watch as Blue Jays take on AL West-leading Astros

Coming off a high-stakes AL East clash with the New York Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays turn their attention to another contender as they open a three-game set with the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

Like the Blue Jays, Houston enters the series with a two-game division lead. The Astros dropped two of three to the Texas Rangers over the weekend.

The Astros have managed to hold on to the top spot in the AL West despite their recent struggles and a rash of injuries across their roster.

While it's not an intra-division matchup, there is still plenty at stake this week between the Blue Jays and Astros. Not only are both clubs trying to hold firm to their division leads, but a first-round bye is still up in the air for the two division winners with the best records in October.

Series Preview/Know Your Foe: Houston Astros @ Toronto Blue Jays

Houston’s reward for losing a series at Arlington? A visit to the AL-leading Blue Jays? Should be fun, right? Right?

After losing the 3-game set in Arlington, the Astros travel north of the border to face off against Toronto for another potential playoff preview…maybe.

Blue Jays Season since last meeting: When these two teams last met, it was all the way back in April. At that time, Toronto was off to a sluggish start, one that seemed all-too-on-brand for this franchise as of late. A team that entered the 2020s with championship ambitions only has three playoff appearances, going a collective 0-6. Sure, they signed Vald Guerrero Jr. to a massive contract, but the rest of the squad seemed doomed to never live up to the promise once thought. Then June hit. Since then, the Blue Jays are 51-33, surging to the top of the AL. In particular, stars such as Guerrero, Bo Bichette and George Springer, are playing up to their abilities. This is also accounting for the underwhelming season from free agent pick-up Antony Santandar. The Jays did make a few moves around the trade deadline, with the biggest being the acquisition Shane Bieber from Cleveland, who is coming back after recovery from Tommy John surgery. Perhaps the Jays can finally live up to the promise of the past few seasons, giving Canada its first Commissioner’s trophy in 32 years. They’ve somewhat cooled off over the past couple of weeks, opening the door for the Yankees (who took two out of three against them in the Bronx this past weekend) to get back into the AL East race.

Houston Astros at Toronto Blue Jays odds, picks and predictions

The Houston Astros (78-66) and Toronto Blue Jays (82-61) begin a 3-game series Tuesday. First pitch from Rogers Centre in Toronto is set for 7:07 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's MLB odds around the Astros vs. Blue Jays odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

The Astros opened their 9-game road trip with a series loss in Arlington, dropping Sunday’s rubber game 4-2 to the Texas Rangers. They lost as -134 road favorites with the Under (8) cashing. Houston’s offense struggled, managing only 5 hits, 2 from 2B Mauricio Dubón. The Astros now hold just a 2-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

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