New York Yankees vs Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees dropped their opener last night in the Bronx to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the Yankees' first loss in six games, and I look for them to bounce back tonight. Rodon went through a stretch of sloppy outings, but he has won his last two starts and is getting a high miss rate on swings. In the two games for Rodon, the opponent scored a total of three runs, and in his eight home starts, the opponent scored four or fewer runs in six of them. Jose Berrios has been a top of the rotation, or near the top pitcher most of his career. He is having a very good season for Toronto. There is, however, a big difference at home, where he is 9-2 in 11 decisions, and on the road, where he is 5-6 in 11 decisions. Worse than that is Toronto's 2-6 record in his last eight road decisions. Make the play on the New York Yankees.

In last place, Toronto is getting outscored by 85 runs, the third-worst differential in the AL. The Blue Jays play their fifth straight road game, losing three of the last four and surrendering 31 runs. The offense is 25th in runs scored, 15th in on-base percentage, and 20th in slugging, while the defense is 24th in fielding percentage and 28th in pitching ERA (4.64). Kevin Gausman (4.44 ERA) has faced the Yankees twice this season with a 10.97 ERA versus the Bronx Bombers in losses of 8-1 and 6-4. New York's offense is No. 1 in runs scored and on-base percentage, plus third in slugging, while the defense is 12th in fielding percentage and the pitching is fifth in ERA (3.69). The Yankees are 13-5 in the last 18 starts made by Marcus Stroman (3.64 ERA), with the talented home team holding all the cards. Play the New York Yankees as a Max Play. 

New York crushed the Blue Jays 16-5 last night, but the Yankees still have lost seven of nine and they have lost six straight after scoring at least five runs their previous game. Also, the Yankees have lost five in a row when their opponent allowed five runs or more its previous game. Chris Bassitt will start for Toronto and he has pitched in hard luck lately. Bassitt has allowed only five runs in 26 innings his past four starts with nothing to show for it. He faced New York once this season and gave up a run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings. Nestor Cortes is 4-6 and the Yankees have lost three of his past four starts although he also has pitched better than his record indicates as he has a 1.07 WHIP. As often happens, when teams score a lot of runs one game the next game will go UNDER. New York scored a total of four runs their previous two games. Take the Blue Jays and the UNDER.

New York is on a 2-9 slide losing all nine as a favorite, including to Toronto yesterday, 9-2, their fourth loss in a row. The Yankees are 7-20 on the road after losing five or six of their last seven, plus 12-23 after allowing 8 or more runs. Toronto has won two in a row and plays its second straight at home. Yusei Kikuchi has 86 Ks in 83+ innings and sports a 3.99 ERA at home. His teams are 21-10 when he starts against opponents with winning records. Play Toronto.