First pitch: Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Baltimore +100, Toronto -110, Total: 9.0

The Blue Jays will be hoping to avoid a six-game losing streak when they host the Orioles on Thursday.

The Orioles are on a roll right now, as they have opened up the season with five win in seven games. Baltimore also happens to be coming off of a 12-5 victory over Boston on Wednesday. That type of win was exactly what the team needed after scoring just four runs total in its previous two losses. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are struggling badly right now. They have lost five straight games and their offense has put up just seven runs total over the past four games. This is supposed to be a team that boasts an explosive lineup, but the bats have not yet woken up. The starters in this Thursday game will be RHP Kevin Gausman (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 8 K) for Baltimore and LHP Francisco Liriano (0-0, 135.00 ERA, 1 K) for Toronto. Liriano had a season debut to forget, allowing five earned runs and retiring only one batter. He’ll hope to rebound here, and he should be able to do just that. He was rock solid during the spring, and it did not seem like he was heading towards anything as bad as his first start of the year. One thing working in his favor is the fact that the Jays are 25-7 against the money line in home games after scoring three runs or less in four straight games since 1997.

Baltimore is off to an excellent start this season and Kevin Gausman will be hoping to keep them going on Thursday. The righty is coming off of a good start against this same Blue Jays team, pitching 5.1 innings of two-run ball. He struck out four batters in that contest, but he did walk four as well. His control has been an issue, and it’d be big if Gausman can get it in check on Thursday. Offensively, both OF Mark Trumbo (.250 BA, 1 HR, 6 RBI) and OF Adam Jones (.286 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI) should be salivating at this matchup with Liriano. The two of them have combined to hit five homers with 10 RBI off of the lefty in their careers. One would have to think they’ll be even more dangerous with Liriano nowhere near his prime these days. Another guy to keep an eye on is C Welington Castillo (.409 BA, 0 HR, 3 RBI). Castillo is 6-for-19 with two homers and seven RBI against Liriano in his career, and he also happens to be on a tear to open up the season.

The Blue Jays badly need to turn things around and they’ll be hoping that Liriano can do the same on Thursday. It can’t get much worse than his first start of the year, so at least Toronto can expect some improvement from the lefty. The offense is also going to need to find something moving forward. Toronto was one of the best offensive teams in baseball last season, but things have not looked good so far. The Jays need both OF Jose Bautista (.138 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and 3B Josh Donaldson (.308 BA, 2 HR, 3 RBI) to come through at the plate on Thursday. They are the leaders of this team and must find a way to get their teammates out of their funks.