The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to continue their drive back into postseason contention when they open a four-game road series against the New York Yankees on Monday afternoon as +120 underdogs on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto is coming off a dominating 8-0 win on Sunday to complete the sweep of a three-game series with the visiting Oakland A’s, and has now won seven of eight contests heading into Monday afternoon’s matchup at Yankee Stadium.
While the Blue Jays remain a distant 12 games back of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, they now sit just 4.5 games back of the Yankees in the race for the top of the AL wild card standings. Despite their recent steady play, the Blue Jays remain a lengthy wager at sports betting sites at +700 odds to clinch a wild card spot for a second straight season.
However, the Blue Jays have provided fans with plenty of excitement during their current surge. Toronto racked up 29 total runs in its three weekend victories over Oakland, which marks a dramatic turnaround for the team after scoring more then three runs in just three of its previous 13 contests.
The question now is whether the Blue Jays can maintain that offensive momentum on the road. The team mustered just six total runs during a three-game series in Detroit last week, and has managed to score more than four runs just five times over its past 21 road dates.
Further complicating matters is the Blue Jays’ shaky record in recent dates with the Yankees. The team has dropped four straight to its divisional rival, and sports a 5-6 record over the past 11 meetings according to the OddsShark MLB Database. However, they have been steady when visiting Yankee Stadium this year, going 4-2 and claiming a pair of series wins.
While the Blue Jays battle to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Yankees aim to solidify their perch atop the AL wild card standings as they hit the diamond on Monday as -130 betting favourites.
The Yankees welcome the Blue Jays to town after dropping two of three games to the last-place Baltimore Orioles on the weekend, capped by a disheartening 8-7 loss on Sunday while set as heavy -320 chalk. Winners in 21 of 25 contests to kick off the month of August, the Yankees have now fallen to defeat in six of their last eight games including their past two, and now sit just a half-game ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the wild card standings.
