Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles Pick & Prediction APRIL 12th 2025

Preview and Prediction

The Baltimore Orioles were anticipating a day off this week, yet also eager to return to work and address issues from the first few weeks of the season.

However, they will now have to wait until Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, as Friday's series opener was postponed due to rain. The game has been rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on July 29, reducing this weekend's matchup to a two-game series.

After a 2-4 road trip, the Orioles have several areas to improve upon.

"Fortunately, it's a long season," said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. "We just need to get going."

The Blue Jays may welcome the extra time between games, as they are coming off four consecutive games in Boston where they went 3-1. However, the last two games went into extra innings, with 11 and 10 innings respectively.

The Orioles have been struggling with consistency both at the plate and on the mound. They have yet to win back-to-back games, which is unfamiliar territory for some of the team's younger players after Baltimore's strong starts in the past couple of seasons.

"We still have a lot of games left," said Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. "We always want to go out there and win, and that's what we're trying to do. The last week has been a bit tough."

Through 14 games, only three Toronto players have hit home runs, with slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. not among them. However, manager John Schneider is not concerned at this point.

"The quality of our at-bats has been very encouraging throughout the lineup," said Schneider. "We know that the power will come from the players we expect it to come from."

Toronto's offense has been lagging behind their pitching, but playing seven games in New York and Boston has been a factor.

"A lot of it has to do with the weather and getting into the flow of the season," said Schneider.

After the final game in Boston, Schneider was critical of the umpiring, particularly with ball-strike calls. According to UmpScorecards, home-plate umpire Manny Gonzalez correctly called 92 percent of pitches in Thursday's 4-3 loss, which is slightly below average. However, the account also calculated that Gonzalez's missed calls favored Boston by 2.04 runs, meaning the game could have been a 1-run win for Toronto and a four-game sweep.

Schneider did not back down from his critique, but did offer a deeper assessment.

"I have a lot of respect for every single one of them," said Schneider of the umpires.

The Orioles and Blue Jays split the first four games of the season in Toronto.

Pitching assignments for Saturday's game were not clear following the postponement.

Baltimore's Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, 2.89 ERA) and Toronto's Bowden Francis (1-1, 3.18) were scheduled to start on Friday, so they could potentially be shifted to Saturday's game.

If either of them are replaced, it is likely that Baltimore's Cade Povich (0-1, 3.48) and/or Toronto's Jose Berrios (1-1, 4.58) will take the mound. Povich did not pitch in the first series against Toronto, while Berrios has a career record of 10-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 17 starts against the Orioles.

However, Berrios suffered a loss in the season opener on March 27, giving up three home runs and six runs overall in a 12-2 defeat. Povich, a rookie last year, went 0-2 against the Blue Jays.

PREDICTION

Toronto Blue Jays

4

5

Baltimore Orioles

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles Recap APR 12TH 2025