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    Look of the Day for Sept. 25: Going back-to-back with the Blue Jays

    By Jack Dougherty,

    23 days ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0gesDH_0vjZTVFw00

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1tGZ3N_0vjZTVFw00
    Jun 30, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman (34) throws a pitch game against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

    We bounced back in our Look of the Day series with a stress-free winner on Bowden Francis Tuesday night, bringing our record to 6-2 in our last eight picks. Let's keep it rolling with yet another play on the Toronto Blue Jays for Wednesday night's slate.

    Look of the Day: Toronto Blue Jays -0.5 first 5 innings (-106 FanDuel)

    The Blue Jays are taking on the Boston Red Sox in an American League East battle on Wednesday night, and we're looking for Toronto to jump out to an early lead in this one.

    Let's start with the starting pitchers. The Blue Jays are rolling with veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman, who's been lights out against this lineup throughout his career. In 88 combined plate appearances against Gausman, current Red Sox hitters have just a .205 xBA, a .272 xwOBA, a .382 xSLG and a 35.2 percent strikeout rate. Gausman is also on a roll with two or fewer earned runs in six of his last eight starts, and he's coming off five shutout innings of no-hit ball against the Texas Rangers last week.

    On the other side, Richard Fitts will be making his fourth career MLB start for the Red Sox. The rookie has been effective with no earned runs through his first 15.2 innings, but fortune is on his side early on. The right-hander is giving up a .259 xBA and a 3.48 ERA because he's getting hit hard and isn't forcing swings and misses. The Blue Jays are one of the best lineups in MLB at avoiding strikeouts, so they're going to put a ton of balls in play against Fitts.

    The Red Sox rank 29th in batting average (.214), 25th in OPS (.621) and 27th in wRC+ (70) against righties over the last two weeks, and they'll be without Rafael Devers for the rest of the season. We like Toronto to build an early lead here.

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