21st Sept - Blue Jays vs Yankees

The Blue Jays are close to a first postseason appearance since the early 1990s. They just haven’t quite been able to shake the Yankees in the race for the AL East. They dropped two straight games in their recent series with the Boston Red Sox, once again opening the door for New York to close the gap.

David Price is on the mound tonight, not only looking to extend Toronto’s lead, but also to further his own Cy Young award candidacy. Since being acquired mid-season from Detroit, Price has posted a 7-1 record with a 2.17 ERA in nine starts, often snapping mini-slumps for the Blue Jays, they’ll hope he provides that remedy on Monday as they aim to avoid their first three-game losing streak since early June.

The real story of Toronto’s season is a top order that has established itself as the best in the MLB. It’s hard for any pitcher to battle past Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. All three players have already passed 30 home runs and 100 RBIs as milestones.

The Yankees’ order is hitting badly either with Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran finding particularly notable rhythm over the last week or so. New York has won five of seven. They have experience and this is crunch time for a team that costs a lot of money.

Adam Warren (6-6, 3.33 ERA) makes his second straight start after giving up two runs in four innings against Tampa Bay. He started the 2015-16 season in the Yankees’ rotation but was moved to the bullpen. It looks like he will finish the season among the starters again.

Three Reasons for Betting Tips

1. Watch out Warren

He isn’t likely to get past more than four or five innings anyway, but we’re concerned for the Yankees’ starting pitcher against a slightly frustrated Blue Jays offense in a ball park that is conducive to home run hitting. This game could get out of control early.

2. Price effectiveness

He has been so good all season and especially since arriving in Toronto. We think he’ll play the same role again tonight pulling out another mini-slump ending display.

3. Toronto are better

We do think that the Blue Jays are the better team, we think they’ll score some runs here and we like the opportunity for them to win this game by a few runs.