MLB Baseball
2026-08-05 - Toronto Blue Jays at Houston Astros
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Wednesday 5th August 2026 - Scheduled 2:20pm EST
7:20pm (British Time)
Preview
The trade deadline was a busy time for the Toronto Blue Jays (53-61), but fans may be a little confused as to the aspirations for the remainder of the season. The current American League Champions have had a difficult year all around as they have struggled for consistency, but the Blue Jays looked like a team that still believed in what can be achieved before the end of the 2026 regular season, but also one having an eye on 2027.
They are just 4 games out of the Wild Card spots in the American League, but the Toronto Blue Jays have to move past a number of rivals for a top three position. That makes it more challenging, but all the players should be focusing on is winning games and then series and trying to put a strong run of form on the board.
The first two games against the Houston Astros (59-56) have been split after the home team rallied for the victory on Tuesday, and that win makes it seven from eight for Houston. It has helped them move to the top of the American League West and move 2.5 games clear of the Texas Rangers and the Astros are looking to turn the screw on those chasing them in the Division.
Houston will hand the ball to Hunter Brown who has a 3-1 record and 3.42 ERA from ten starts in what has been an injury hit campaign. The pitcher is looking to rediscover the form that helped him produced an ERA of around 1.00 less in 2025 compared with this season, while Brown is still searching for consistency having missed a couple of months of the season in April and May.
July began with some rough outings, but Hunter Brown enters this game having picked up back to back decision wins to round out the month. He only allowed two runs in almost 13 Innings pitched in those consecutive starts, while Hunter Brown threw 3 Innings and allowed a single run to the Toronto Blue Jays in one of the early comeback starts in June.
That outing in June means Hunter Brown has a 2-1 record and 1.64 ERA from four career starts against the Blue Jays.
The road team will send one of their new acquisitions to the mound for this game when handing the ball to Jameson Taillon who arrived in a trade from the Chicago Cubs on deadline day.
Jameson Taillon has a 2-6 record and 5.92 ERA from fifteen starts for the Chicago Cubs this season and returns to the American League East having previously played for the New York Yankees. The ERA is on course to be the worst of his career and that is bad timing for a player that will be testing Free Agency at the end of the season.
It should mean there is plenty of motivation to show what he can do in the uniform of the Blue Jays, but Jameson Taillon returned from spending over a month on the sidelines to allow eleven runs in a little over 8 Innings thrown across two starts for the Chicago Cubs. He allowed five Home Runs in those two starts in the final half of July, while Jameson Taillon was pulled out of the 5th Inning in a start against the Houston Astros earlier this season after allowing four runs and ultimately picking up the decision loss.
That start in June means Jameson Taillon has a 1-3 record and 4.81 ERA in seven starts against the Houston Astros.
The Astros win on Tuesday means they have won three of the five games played between these teams in 2026.
Prediction
Time is already beginning to run out for the Toronto Blue Jays and they cannot keep losing series if they are going to make a late run for the Playoffs.
Unfortunately they are running into the Houston Astros at a bad time wit the American League West leaders in fine form.
Houston look to have the edge on the starter mound and the Offensive players are in good form to believe the home team can win with something to spare on Wednesday.
The Pick :
Houston Astros 8-3 Toronto Blue Jays
