Blue Jays’ blazing bats head to Yankee Stadium
Very little went right for the Yankees in Sunday’s 12-3 loss to the Rays. And yet, the Bronx’s newest darling found a way to stay in the spotlight.
Aaron Judge homered for the second straight contest, giving New York a sliver of sunshine on an otherwise dreary afternoon. The stud prospect hopes to keep rolling entering tonight’s series opener vs. Toronto, with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch on the East Coast. Handicappers at online sports book BetDSI endorse the visiting squad, whereas Joe Girardi’s troops represent -102 underdogs. The over/under run figure rests at 9.5.
The Yanks recently recalled Judge, Gary Sanchez and Tyler Austin from the minors. Judge was hitting just .224 in Triple-A, making his sudden offensive surge in the bigs all the more impressive. New York will gladly ride the wave, though, as the team trails Boston by 4 ½ games for the American League’s second wild card.
John Gibbons’ Blue Jays, of course, feel tremendously confident at the moment. Winners of eight of 12, they lead the Eastern Division. The high-profile bats are also in vintage form. Led by Josh Donaldson (.290/.400/.562) and Edwin Encarnacion (.269/.359/.557), Toronto boasts 17 homers in the past 13 tilts.
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Toronto’s work on the hill, however, should ultimately determine whether it returns to the ALCS in the fall. R.A. Dickey, who holds a 6-4 record away from Rogers Centre, nabs this evening’s assignment. He’ll be opposed by the extremely raw Chad Green.
The good news for Green: He needn’t do much to top what Luis Severino brought to the table about 24 hours ago. Severino got pounded for seven runs on eight base knocks across 3 2/3 frames. Green won’t endure quite the same level of abuse, but rest assured that the Blue Jays promise to enjoy themselves at the plate.
MONDAY MLB FREE PICK: BLUE JAYS/YANKEES OVER 9.5 RUNS