Morning Coffee: Will Blue Jays bats snap epic Skenes shutout streak at PNC Park?

Alright, it’s August 18th and all I want to do is talk football.

Vernon Adams Jr. is the favourite to win the CFL’s regular season Most Outstanding Player award at FanDuel.

I recommended a play on VA at +2000 back in the spring.

Now the Stampeders have gone from the longest odds to win the Grey Cup at FanDuel to a top three choice thanks in large part to their veteran quarterback that too many people had written off before the season started.

Texas versus Ohio State is next Saturday and it looks like for the first time ever the top-ranked team in AP Preseason Poll is going to be an underdog in Week 1.

In case you missed it, I wrote about what’s at stake for that showdown between the Longhorns and Buckeyes.

Finally, it’s the final week of the NFL pre-season and we still don’t know who the starting quarterbacks will be in Cleveland, Indianapolis, and New Orleans.

If you had to pick a side for a six-man tag team match, would you go Team Favourite with Joe Flacco, Anthony Richardson, and Spencer Rattler or the Team Unknowns with Shedeur Sanders, Daniel Jones, and Tyler Shough.

We’re about to find out who the regular season Week 1 starting quarterbacks will be for the Browns, Colts, and Saints in the coming days and a parlay with all three teams to miss the playoffs is -133 at FanDuel.

You know what – let’s go ahead and lock that three-leg parlay in as a FanDuel Best Bet right now.

The fact that we can parlay NFL futures on the FanDuel app has left us with seemingly unlimited possibilities, just like the QB situation in Cleveland.

We need FanDuel to give us odds that every one of Flacco, Sanders, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel play at least one game for the Browns at some point this season.

They can add it to the long list of specials available ahead of FanDuel Futures Day next Tuesday August 26th.

Anyways, when I walked to my car this morning the air felt really cool for the first time in a long time and it reminded me what the next six months of my life will look like.

I’m ready for it.

But then what do I do about the Toronto Blue Jays?

It’s like when I wait all week for the latest episode of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens and then the Crave algorithm suggests something new and I end up completely sidetracked for two hours by something I never intended to watch in the first place.

That’s the Toronto Blue Jays versus Paul Skenes.

My favourite pitcher versus my favourite baseball team.

For just a moment, football can wait.

This is Morning Coffee for Monday August 18th, 2025.

Will Blue Jays Bats Snap Epic Skenes Shutout Streak At PNC Park?

Back in April, nobody would have been able to convince me that I’d be looking forward to a regular season game between the Blue Jays and Pirates as the main event of one of my Monday evenings in mid-August.

Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels are both going to play as Monday Night Football returns to TSN tonight and I’m hoping the baseball game will be done by the time the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders kick off.

Did you know that Burrow is the most popular bet to win NFL regular season MVP at FanDuel?

Did you know that the Bengals are the most popular straight bet to miss the playoffs at FanDuel?

Did you know that Commanders over 9.5 regular season wins is the third-most bet NFL win total at FanDuel?

Did you know that Season 2 of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens debuts this Thursday on Crave?

We’re 17 days away from the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles kicking off the 2025 regular season against the Dallas Cowboys and my sports calendar is already overloaded with dual-screen nights.

I’m sure that will go over well with my lovely wife after all those brownie points I accumulated sitting through an entire season of Temptation Island this summer.

Anyways, I shouldn’t have to try hard to convince her to watch Blue Jays-Pirates with me.

Star pitcher?

Check.

Playoff stakes?

Check.

Does anybody know if Livvy Dunne is going to the game?

Her boyfriend could certainly use the support after how bad he was roughed up in his last start.

The Milwaukee Brewers beat up the Pirates 14-0 in that game.

It was the team’s largest loss in a Skenes start ever.

The bad news for Pittsburgh is that Skenes has a 5.79 ERA against the Brewers this season.

The good news is that he has a 1.75 ERA against every other opponent.

The really bad news is that if the Pirates don’t find a way to start winning games soon, Skenes could eventually decide to take that ERA elsewhere.

Toronto, maybe?

I heard Livvy is a big fan of Canadian winters.

Skenes has shown his best stuff at PNC Park this season where he has posted a 1.70 ERA in 11 starts.

In fact, the NL Cy Young favourite hasn’t allowed a single earned run in a home start since June 3rd!!

I guess now we know why he’s the most popular bet to win that award at FanDuel with 17 per cent of the handle in the NL Cy Young award winner market.

I started this column wondering whether the Blue Jays could get the win in Pittsburgh.

Now I’m pondering whether they will even score a run.

Skenes has pitched 27.2 consecutive scoreless innings at PNC Park, including five straight home starts without allowing an earned run.

The Blue Jays own the best record in the American League, but they’re also 21 games above .500 at home compared to a .500 record on the road.

With Skenes slinging 100 mile-per-hour fastballs with a chip on his shoulder after getting roughed up again by Milwaukee, it will be interesting to see how Toronto’s bats fare in the opener of a three-game series.

Per the FanDuel traders, 76 per cent of the moneyline bets are on the Blue Jays to win tonight.

74 per cent of the handle in the run line market is on Toronto to win the game by two runs or more.

60 per cent of the handle is on the under seven runs.

Kevin Gausman has been excellent in each of his previous two road starts for the Blue Jays, giving up just one earned run over 13.0 innings of work in wins over the Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies.

What has been the key to his success?

No idea, but it might have something to do with not having to worry about where to park his car on the road.

Toronto will need another strong performance from the veteran righty tonight.

The Blue Jays are five games up on the Boston Red Sox and 5.5 games up on the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East standings with six weeks to go.

Toronto is also a half-game clear of Detroit for the best record in the American League.

This is a young team that’s going to face a ton of pressure once October rolls around.

Considering the team’s home/road splits this season, it would be a huge win if the Blue Jays could hold off the Tigers and clinch home field advantage for the playoffs.

Toronto’s road trip begins with three games against a Pirates team that is 21 games below .500.

Then they’ll head to Florida for three games against a Miami Marlins team that has lost seven of 10 to fall six games below .500.

After that, the Blue Jays return home for three games against a Minnesota Twins team that is eight games below .500.

If they can take advantage of these next nine games against non-playoff teams, Toronto will be in pretty good shape by the time the red-hot Brewers come to town next weekend.

This is a team that has already stolen the spotlight as the biggest surprise in all of baseball this season.

I just spent 30 minutes writing about how important this stretch is to their season, and it starts today against the most impressive pitcher in the majors.

Who would have thought I’d be writing about Blue Jays versus Pirates on August 18th?

I still managed to give out a FanDuel Best Bet for the NFL regular season off the top of this column, but I’m feeling generous so let’s go with Toronto moneyline at -104.

The Skenes streak of home dominance must end at some point.

Why not against Gausman and the AL-leading Blue Jays?

Toronto ML -104 is a FanDuel Best Bet.

All three of the Browns, Colts, and Saints to miss the playoffs at -133 is a FanDuel Best Bet.

Have a great day, everyone!