The Toronto Blue Jays will be beginning their final interleague series of the 2021 MLB season on Tuesday night when they visit the slumping Washington Nationals as opening -172 favourites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto travels to Washington after dropping two of three in Seattle over the weekend, and has now lost five of its past nine contests heading into Tuesday’s matchup at Nationals Park.
The Blue Jays’ shaky performance on their current nine-game road trip has cost them valuable ground in the race to win the AL East title. Toronto opened the week trailing the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by 7.5 games, and sat 4.5 games back of both the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s in the wild card standings. The team’s inability to close the gap is now reflected on their odds to claim a wild card spot, which now sit at +225 at sports betting sites.
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A lack of consistency on the road is emerging as a major concern in Toronto. The team has mustered just eight wins in its past 19 contests away from home, posting consecutive wins during the same series just once during that stretch.
However, the Blue Jays can thank their steady play in interleague action for their continued presence in the race for a postseason berth. The team has racked up an MLB-leading 14-4 record this season when facing National League opponents, including a 6-2 mark on the road while limiting opponents to just 2.63 runs per game. The Blue Jays have also enjoyed success in past meetings with the Nationals, going 8-3 over their past 11 matchups, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, including a 5-1 record in their past six visits to Washington.
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While the Blue Jays look to reverse their recent misfortunes on the road, the Nationals try to snap out of a freefall as they take the field for Tuesday’s series opener. Swept by the visiting Atlanta Braves in a three-game series this past weekend, the Nationals open the week riding a seven-game losing streak that now leaves them in last place in the NL East standings.
Overall, Washington has lost 12 of its last 13 contests, and five or more in a row on three occasions during its current 5-19 run. The Nationals have also dropped nine of their past 11 games at Nationals Park, and suffered 15 of this season’s 33 home defeats in 20 outings since July 1. Despite that run of futility, however, high scoring has emerged as a trend when Washington plays at home, with the OVER prevailing in eight of their past nine games.
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