A little bit of offense, some starting pitching, and a whole lot of bullpen has turned the Yankees season around. New York climbed out of the basement in the AL East thanks to a five-game winning streak and watched the Blue Jays take their place. The teams meet in the Bronx Wednesday for the second of a three-game set.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
One month after a sluggish start dropped them into the cellar of the AL East, the Yankees are the hottest team in the majors. A rejuvenated offense has paired with four consecutive strong outings from the starting rotation on the road and that’s all it took to get manager Joe Girardi’s club going.
The Yankees finished off a four-game sweep of the Athletics on Sunday with a 5-4 victory, their season-best fifth straight, and they’re 7-2 in their last nine games to overtake Toronto and Tampa Bay in the division. The pin-stripers are up 5.58 units on the moneyline during their successful nine-game run and look for a little payback against the Blue Jays, who took two of three from the Yanks when the clubs played north of the border in mid-April.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Marco Estrada (1-2, 2.61 ERA) got back on track his last time out, allowing one earned run on three hits and a walk while fanning nine in eight innings. Despite the strong outing, Estrada didn’t figure in the decision and hasn’t won a start since his season debut on Apr. 10. He remains with just a single victory after nine starts even with numbers that place him among the game’s upper crust of starters.
Estrada has allowed three or fewer hits in four of his eight starts and carries a 2.61 ERA and 1.05 WHIP into his first start of the season against the Yankees. He owns a 4.26 ERA in six lifetime appearances covering 31.2 innings against New York.
Ivan Nova (3-1, 3.26 ERA) was incredibly efficient in his last start, holding the A’s to a run on four hits over six innings and needing just 62 pitches to do it. He struck out three and did not walk a batter while lowering his ERA to 3.26. It was the big right-handers third start since joining the rotation and he’s 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA in that role.
Nova’s pitch count will continue to be monitored as he adjusts back into a starting role after seven relief appearances. One of those outings was in Toronto on Apr. 13 when he allowed four runs on five hits in just one inning of work.
LIVE BETTING
Carlos Beltran’s red-hot road trip helped propel the Yankees out of the basement in the AL East, and the slugging switch-hitter believes that this is just the beginning of things to come. Beltran banged out another two hits, including an RBI double, in the Yankees 5-4 win over the Athletics on Sunday. His 10 for 22 tear has been a major factor in New York’s season-high five-game winning streak.
Beltran was 9 for 18 with six extra-base hits and eight RBIs in the four-game series at Oakland, playing all four games as the designated hitter. With Alex Rodriguez scheduled to return from the disabled list this week, Beltran is looking forward to returning to right field. “I love to be in the outfield. I love to be in the game. I feel like I’m more productive being out there,” Beltran said of the impending move.
QUICK PICK
In 14 games since closer Aroldis Chapman served his suspension and was reinstated, the Yankees are 10-4. The three-headed monster of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Chapman has allowed Girardi to shorten games, increasing the effectiveness of his starters and the results have been huge. It also helps that the offense has come around a bit and Chase Headley finally had his first extra-base hit of the year.
The Jays have been missing the lumber this year and find themselves at the bottom of the division standings entering play this week. Pitching has been surprisingly good in Toronto, but the Jays are in the bottom third of the rankings in runs scored. And that tells us all we need to know about why they are where they are.
MLB Odds: New York 4, Toronto 3
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