Baseball Parlay Pick – Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays

Tuesday night’s matchup between AL East rivals, Toronto and Boston, is shaping up to what should be a pitcher’s duel. For Boston, Clay Buchholz takes the hill against a Blue Jays team he has notoriously done well against. Buchholz and the Red Sox will be facing Shaun Marcum, the Jays opening day starter.

Both starters have had success against the other team, so an under bet against the Runline (8 ½) gives us a parlay opportunity on tonight’s MLB Betting matchup.

MLB Betting Odds:
Boston -1 ½ (+145)
O/U (8 ½)
Toronto +1 ½ (-165)

Buchholz was able to snag the fifth spot in Boston’s rotation as veteran knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, has been moved to the bullpen. The move has paid off for the Sox as Clay has been throwing the ball really well this year. Even in his last start, a loss to the Rangers, he threw six scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters.

His counterpart, Shaun Marcum, is returning after missing all of last year. But before the arm injury, Marcum was 4-2 with a 3.67 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings against Boston. Marcum, like Buchholz, pitched well enough to win last time out but didn’t earn the W. He had a shaky start, giving up a three-run homer to Jose Guillen in the first inning against the Royals but settled down and shut down the Royals through his remaining six innings.

Here are some MLB Betting trends for this contest tonight:

• Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
• Red Sox are 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Toronto.
• Over is 4-0-1 in Marcums last 5 starts vs. Red Sox.
• Blue Jays are 5-1 in Marcums last 6 starts vs. Red Sox.
• Red Sox are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

Looking at the way these two have been throwing the ball, the hitters may have a tough time tonight. But one man that hasn’t had much trouble with anyone lately has been Dustin Pedroia. The pint side infielder’s five homers in 2010 are the most by a Sox second baseman in the month of April. Not bad for a guy that looks like he belongs on the bar stool next to you rather than tearing up the MLB.

For the Jays, it has been the hot start of Vernon Wells that has helped them to a 10-10 record, one better than the Sox who sit at 9-11. Wells is currently sitting at 199 homeruns and would love to knock his 200th out against their AL East rivals at home in Toronto, but that’ll be easier said than done.

I see this one being won on small ball, not like the 13-12 derby we saw last night. Although the Sox are hot, take the Jays to ride a strong outing by Marcum to a win.

MLB Parlay pick: Under (8 ½) and the Blue Jays (-110)