Toronto Blue Jays Begin A Crucial Home Series Against New York Yankees

The long baseball season is almost over and the thoughts of most Canadian sports fans are turning toward hockey. But there is some business to take care of first for the Toronto Blue Jays who are trying to nail down first place in the American League East division. They currently hold a 2.5 game lead over the New York Yankees–and are currently 2 games back of the Kansas City Royals for the best record in baseball. The Yankees have a 4 game lead over Houston for the top wild card spot in the American League and are six and a half games clear of the Los Angeles Angels.

So that brings us to the early week series between the Jays and the Yankees that begins tonight at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays have the pitching matchup they wanted for game one as they’ll send lefthander David Price to the mound. Price has been dominating all year and the Blue Jays have won 22 of his 30 starts overall. Price has already faced the Yankees three times this year winning two–he’s pitched 19 1/3 innings against New York allowing 5 earned runs while striking out 20.

New York will send righthander Adam Warren to the mound for Monday’s game. Warren may not have the name recognition that Price does but he’s put up solid numbers in his 15 starts this season. Warren has a 3.63 ERA overall with New York winning 9 of his 15 starts. He’s not been as effective on the road where his ERA is 4.68 with the Yankees losing 5 of his 9 away starts. His recent form has been better–he’s got a 3.06 ERA in his last three starts–but the Yankees lost two of those games.

The Blue Jays have won 11 of 16 games against the Yankees this year but are just 3-3 against New York at the Rogers Centre. Price is as good as any lefthander in baseball but New York hits lefthanded pitching well (5.1 runs per game) and is 24-20 +3.6 units against southpaws this season. They’ve also been very profitable on the road. The price on this game is just too high–Toronto may be the better team but a -250 price tag is outlandish. In a much more closer to even matchup we’ll take the road underdog.

BET NEW YORK YANKEES +215 OVER TORONTO BLUE JAYS