Yanks, Blue Jays continue rivalry set in Bronx
Nobody expected Chad Green to silence one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball yesterday. Then again, the righty couldn’t let the Yankees’ deluge of other rookies have all the fun.
New York subdued Toronto, 1-0, behind six spectacular innings from the 25-year-old Green. The two American League East rivals square off again tonight, with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch in the Bronx. Online sports book Bovada.lv lists the Blue Jays as 1.5-run favorites, while the host squad nets odds of +102 to spring the upset. The over/under run total is 8.5.
In just his fifth MLB start, Green struck out 11 and generally looked like a cagey veteran. The Yanks needed every bit of his dominance on account of going 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranding 14. Still, they prevailed for the ninth time in 14 games and inched ever-closer to Baltimore in the race for the AL’s second wild card.
Manager Joe Girardi hopes Michael Pineda can channel Green’s form this evening. By and large, the hurler has endured a rocky campaign. Since May 28, though, he’s 4-4 with a 3.81 ERA. Pineda holds a 2-3 record with a 3.54 ERA in nine career outings vs. Toronto.
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John Gibbons will deploy Marco Estrada, whose last road defeat came on April 16. Most recently, the All-Star labored through five innings in a 5-2 defeat to the Rays. Yet he’s managed to work at least six frames in 17 of 20 assignments in 2016.
Surprisingly, the Blue Jays have dropped three away contests in a row. We all understand how combustible Pineda can be, though, and Toronto’s big-time bats are living up to the hype at the moment. Expect an offensive course correction following an unexpectedly quiet series opener.
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