The biggest three days of the season for the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays are on tap. The last of those games will take place on Wednesday, and that might decide who ultimately wins the AL East when push comes to shove.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Just three games separate these two teams heading into this series, and if the Blue Jays are going to put this division away, this is the series in which it will happen. Toronto enters this series at 85-64 and +7.98 units, while the Yanks are 81-66 and +1.84 units.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Masahiro Tanaka was scheduled to get the ball in this crucial game for New York, but he suffered a hamstring strain while running the bases, of all things against the Mets last week.
Instead, it'll be Ivan Nova who comes back into the rotation after getting stripped from that spot just a week ago. He allowed six runs in just 1.2 innings against these Jays at home in a 10-7 loss in his last start to drop to 6-8 with a 5.11 ERA for the season.
Marcus Stroman got the win that day in his first start back from a torn ACL, throwing five innings and allowing three runs. His second start was a lot better against the Red Sox, giving up six hits and one run over just seven frames to get the win.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"To tell you the truth, I'm actually glad Boston is getting out of town. They've been tough on us the last few times we've met up… We play New York good, let's hope we can continue that… Hopefully get the bats going, and we should be fine." – Blue Jays manager John Gibbons following the end of a series which was surprisingly lost at home to Boston
SITUATIONAL BETTING
The leash is going to be short on Nova for sure in this one, and that's going to put a lot of pressure on a Yankees bullpen which has a ton of young arms in it. James Pazos and Brendan Ryan haven't allowed a run since coming up to the bigs for the September push, while Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller still continue their fantastic runs with sub-2.00 ERAs.
PROP TALK
Gibbons wants to see his bats hum, but the fact of the matter is that the Jays continue to blast homers. We've seen all three of Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion go yard at some point in the last three games against Boston. These three now have a combined 109 homers this year, and against Nova, we wouldn't want to bet against any of them.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Yankees are still within range of the AL East title, but this just isn't going to happen as we see it. Tanaka has been through so much over the course of the last 16 months or so with arm injuries, and the fact that a hamstring strain has taken him out of this game is going to hurt the most.
The Yanks have lost four of the last five games played in this series heading into the most important games of the year on Monday, and they are going to get topped in this game, too.
Toronto 7, New York 4
The MLB lines for this Wednesday contest will be first released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time moneylines, player props and inning totals. Live betting is open during every commercial break!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker's live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the New York Yankees versus the Toronto Blue Jays will commence at 7:07 p.m. ET on Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at Rogers Centre. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
