It’s the rubber match of the three-game series in Toronto between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees. The Yankees (78-48; 36-26 on the road) take the field the as the -130 road favorite for MLB odds against the Blue Jays (65-60; 33-27 at home) in Toronto with the total lined at 8.5.

The Yankees come into this game with the best record in all of baseball and are on pace for a 100-win season, but they do trail the Blue Jays in the season series between the two clubs as Toronto has won six of 11 overall on the year.  The Blue Jays have been one of the big surprises in all of baseball this year having won their backers more than 10 units of profit on the season, the highest of any team in the American League this year.

A couple of 24-year-old starters take the mound in this one with both having very comparable numbers on the year. The Yankees will send right-hander Philip Hughes (15-5 and a 3.90 ERA) to the hill as he goes up against the Blue Jays left-hander Brett Cecil (10-6 and also a 3.90 ERA).  The Yankees have gone 5-2 in Hughes last seven road starts and are a solid 17-6 with him on the mound this year. He has had two starts against the Blue Jays earlier this year with the Yankees coming out on top in both of those games in New York. Hughes has now put together three straight quality starts with a WHIP of 1.17 in his last three outings.

The Blue Jays have also won both of their starts in this series with today’s starter Brett Cecil as he has held the Yankees to just two runs in 14 innings of work in his two starts against them this year. Though the AL East is considered by just about everyone the best division in baseball, this hasn’t bothered Cecil as the Jays are 6-0 in his last six starts when playing teams from inside the AL East division. The Jays are also a solid 7-3 as an underdog in Cecil’s last 10 starts in that role. He comes into this game pitching very well with seven quality starts in his last 8 trips to the mound.

The Yankees come in a little banged up on offense, but still managed to smack five home runs last night in their easy 11-5 win and have hit the third most home runs in all of baseball with 150 on the year. They lead the league or are towards the top in many offensive categories as they have scored a league leading 665 runs (5.3 per game average) and are second in baseball with a team OPS of .785. The Yankees are also hitting a little better against left-handers this year and have the highest on-base percentage in baseball against them on the year at .354. They come into this game having won seven of their past eight road games against left-handers and are 15-6 their last 21 games when they were a road favorite.

The Blue Jays also have some mighty big bats in their lineup as they have crushed a league leading 190 home runs on the year and are second in baseball in team slugging percentage at .455 on the year. Jose Baustista leads the major leagues with 40 home runs on the season while having knocked in 95 runs on the year. The Blue Jays do most of their damage against right-handers as they lead all of baseball with 40 home runs more then the next closest team in the league. They now have won five of their past seven games against right-handers and are hitting a strong .274 at home against them this year.

The Blue Jays have played well against teams in the very tough AL East this year, having gone 28-22 on the year. This is not like other Toronto teams of year’s past who were overmatched and didn’t have the firepower to keep up with the AL East big boys. With two evenly matched starting pitchers and an offense every bit as strong as the Yankees, the Blue Jays at home have a real good shot to win this one. Getting a solid underdog price from a team who has played well all year against the mighty Yankees is just too good to pass up on. Take the Yankees -130.

Jason Sharpe is one of the top producing baseball handicappers here at Doc’s Sports.  He is currently on an 11-4 run in MLB the last 13 days with $100 bettors winning almost $2,500 in the process.  Sign up for his baseball picks and start winning today!