New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays Betting Preview
A.L. East rivals will square off on Tuesday night as the New York Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Given that Toronto still cannot play their home games in Toronto yet, this game will be played at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 pm ET.
This will be the second of a three-game series between the two. In the first game, New York won 3-1 behind a strong pitching performance from Gerrit Cole (six innings, three hits, one earned run, eight strikeouts). In the loss, Robbie Ray allowed two runs in five innings.
Toronto is the slight favorite in Tuesday’s game. They are -126 to win while the Yankees’ moneyline sits at +108. The runline features New York +1.5, and the over/under for total runs is nine.
Pitching Matchup
The pitching matchup Tuesday features two pitchers still looking for their first win.
For the Yankees, it will be Jameson Taillon (0-0, 3.86 ERA) taking the mound. In his first start, he gave up two runs (both home runs) in just under five innings. Given it was his first start in almost two years, the young righty will look to build off of this against Toronto.
For the Blue Jays will be ace Hyun Jin Ryu (0-1, 2.92 ERA). In his last start, a 2-1 loss to the Rangers, he went seven innings allowing two earned runs and striking out seven.
By The Numbers
Offensively, Toronto has held a slight edge in the early going. They rank 12th in scoring, averaging 4.56 runs per game. The Yankees rank 19th, averaging 4.22.
Defensively, these two are neck-and-neck. The Yankees rank 8th in runs allowed per game at 3.67. The Blue Jays come in one spot later at 9th, allowing opponents 3.78 runs per game.
Yankees Hope To Take Series Tuesday
At -200, the Yankees are the clear favorites to win the A.L. East. They know that as long as they can consistently win the series, they will be in good shape. On Tuesday, they will try to get that done against their division foes.
Offensively, leading the way for the Yankees in the early going has been outfielder Aaron Judge and catcher Gary Sanchez. For Judge, he is hitting .290/.389/.484 with two home runs and five runs batted in.
Sanchez is hitting .296/.406/.556 with two home runs and four runs batted in.
As well as these two have hit, the Yankees are still waiting for solid contributions from the likes of Giancarlo Stanton (.167 batting average, one home run), Gleyber Torres (.205 batting average, no home runs), and DJ LeMahieu (.268 batting average, one home run).
Blue Jays Trying To Give Ryu Run Support
As good as Hyun Jin Ryu has pitched in a Blue Jays uniform, he still needs some help from his offense. In his two starts thus far, the offense has only given him a combined four runs of offense, and two of those runs came after he was already done pitching in the opener. They will look to get the job done Tuesday.
Offensively, second baseman Marcus Semien has already shown signs of being a great offseason acquisition. Signed to a one-year deal, Semien has already hit three home runs to go along with five runs batted in and two stolen bases.
Bo Bichette (.275 batting average, two home runs), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.364 batting average, two home runs), and Randal Grichuk (.333 batting average, nine runs batted in) have all hit respectably to open the season.
Taking The Yankees On The Moneyline
While Hyun-Jin Ryu has pitched well this season, there are a few bats in the Yankees’ lineup that have had success against the lefty. Aaron Judge is three for seven with a home run, while Gary Sanchez is two for four with two home runs.
In terms of Jameson Taillon, only Randal Grichuk and Joe Panik have ever faced him, and they are a combined three for nine with no home runs and three runs batted in.
Really, this one might come down to how well Taillon can build off of his first outing, but at +108 to win, it is hard to pass up on the Yankees with those odds.
