Thursday's best MLB bets

Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays (-110, 9)

There will be a lot of strained necks leaving the Rogers Centre by the time the Red Sox and Jays wrap up their three-game set Thursday.

Boston opened the series with a 7-5 win Tuesday night, in a game that featured five home runs including three from the home side. Toronto tops the bigs in dingers this season, sending 178 balls over the fence, heading into Wednesday’s Game 2, with 102 of those coming at home.

"It definitely was a dog fight out there -- a tough one to lose for us," Blue Jays outfielder Travis Snider told reporters following Tuesday’s loss. "I think we showed some heart down the stretch and had a few opportunities we weren't able to take advantage of. It was one of those games.”

The Red Sox are no slouches at the plate either. Despite injuries to some of their star players, the BoSox have rocked 149 home runs, which ranks second in the majors.

Baseball bettors should expect more fireworks in the final game of this series. Toronto sends some fresh meat to the mound in youngster Brad Mills, who gave up four dingers over his four 2010 starts. Boston goes with John Lackey, who has allowed 11 total runs in his last two outings.

Pick: Over

Colorado Rockies at New York Mets (-165, 7)

The timing couldn’t be any worse for Johan Santana.

News broke on Wednesday that a woman who claims she was raped by Santana at a golf course in Florida last fall filed a civil suit against him and the Mets ace takes the mound on Thursday.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Department told the New York Daily News last year that there wasn’t enough evidence to press charges against Santana. The case hinged too heavily on the victim’s word against Santana.

And while the married southpaw pitch admits to having sex with the woman, he argues it was consensual.

“It’s still the same, I won’t comment,” Santana told reporters. “It’s a legal matter. The truth will come out. I’m just gonna wait and see but I can’t give any further comment at this time.”

Will Santana be able to focus on keeping Colorado hitters off the bases on Thursday or will his mind be on other things?

Pick: Rockies