After closing out a six-game road trip on Sunday with a disappointing 7-6 walk-off loss to the AL West-leading Houston Astros, the Toronto Blue Jays return home on Tuesday to open a three-game set with the New York Yankees as -135 favourites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Sunday’s loss in Houston represents the Blue Jays’ 10th walk-off defeat, the most by any team in the majors this season, and also marks the fifth time in nine games that Toronto pitchers have surrendered at least seven runs going into Tuesday night’s Yankees versus Blue Jays betting matchup at Rogers Centre.
Marcus Stroman continued to shine in Sunday’s start, holding the Astros to just two earned runs over 6.2 innings, but Blue Jays starters have earned just four winning decisions during their current 8-5 run. That includes a 4-2 victory over the visiting Oakland A’s as -162 chalk in Francisco Liriano’s penultimate start with the club on July 24.
The Blue Jays have now surrendered 6.78 runs per game over their past nine contests, extending the current strong run for the over in totals betting to 7-3 in their matchups.
But help may be on the way on Tuesday, as lefthander J.A. Happ takes the mound for Toronto in search of a third straight quality start. Happ impressed in his last outing, throwing seven innings of one-run ball in the Blue Jays’ 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox as -210 road favourites last Wednesday.
Happ has picked up just two wins in his past eight starts, but has turned in quality starts on five occasions during that stretch including a four-hit, one-run performance in the club’s 4-1 victory at Yankee Stadium as -113 chalk on July 4. Happ is 2-0 in his past three starts against New York.
Veteran left-hander CC Sabathia makes his fourth start of the season against the Blue Jays as New York continues its seven-game road trip as a +115 underdog. Sabathia has given up 11 earned runs in 13 innings of work against Toronto this season, but earned the win in the Yankees’ 12-2 victory over the Blue Jays as +133 road underdogs on June 1.
The Yankees are on a two-game winning streak but have enjoyed limited success in recent dates at Rogers Centre, going 3-11 in 14 meetings since April 2016 according to the OddsShark MLB Database. New York, though, outscored the Blue Jays by a 26-12 margin while splitting a four-game set in Toronto in early June.
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