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Case of the Mondays: Yankees' grip on AL East slipping

by - 8/10/2015

PGA Golfer Jim Furyk

The New York Yankees and embattled slugger Alex Rodriguez have pleasantly surprised in 2015-at least if you are a fan of the Bronx bombers-but they may be losing a little bit of luster at the most inopportune of times. On Aug. 1 the Toronto Blue Jays were in third place in the American League East and six games back. Now they are in second, just 1.5 games south of New York. Get ready for a fun last two months of the season!

Odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook unless otherwise indicated.

New York Yankees . Last week began in impressive enough fashion for the Yankees as they took two of three at home from the rival Boston Red Sox. But despite getting to stay at home to entertain Toronto in a weekend series, things took a borderline disastrous turn for the boys in pinstripes. Their bats went almost entirely silent, and the result was a three-game sweep at the hands of the visiting Blue Jays, who prevailed 2-1 in extra innings on Friday then shut out New York 6-0 and 2-0 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Heading into a three-game set at the Cleveland Indians from Tuesday through Thursday, A-Rod and company have scored a total of four runs in their last five contests. The Yankees are +500 to win the AL pennant and +1100 to win the World Series.

San Diego Padres . If there is any good news for the Yankees, it's that they are still in it-in fact, as previously mentioned they are still in first place in their division. The same cannot be said for the San Diego Padres, whose spending spree in the offseason has not come close to paying any dividends. San Diego is eight games under .500 at 52-60, 10.5 games shy of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, and 11 games out of the second wild card spot (the Chicago Cubs). If the Padres had any distant designs at the all-star break of making a second-half playoff push, those evaporated with last week's disaster. The team has not won a game since last Monday, having been swept in three straight outings by…wait for it…both the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies. San Diego is +6600 to win the division.

Landry Jones . To the surprise of nobody, Jones played the entire night for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Sunday's Hall of Fame game against the Minnesota Vikings. The former Oklahoma standout is hoping to snag the primary backup job behind Ben Roethlisberger or, at the very least, make Pittsburgh's 53-man roster, but he did not to much in the way of that effort in his team's preseason opener. Jones played mistake-free football, but he completed only 16 of 32 passes for 135 yards (for those counting, that's a mere 4.5 yards per attempt) and no touchdowns. The Steelers mustered nothing other than a field goal during a 14-3 loss in Canton, Ohio. They are +180 co-favorites with the Baltimore Ravens to win the AFC North.

Arsenal . The 2015-16 Premier League campaign is off to a rough start for the Gunners. Playing at home in the friendly confines of Emirates Stadium, Arsenal (which finished third on the EPL table last season) lost to West Ham (12th last season) 2-0. The club had, and still has, high hopes, in part because they landed well-known goalkeeper Petr Cech during the offseason. But Cech's tenure with the Gunners got off on the wrong foot as he made blunders each time West Ham found the back of the net. Arsenal is a -137 favorite over Crystal Palace this weekend.

John Isner . Few tennis players are hotter than Isner as the U.S. Open rapidly approaches. The 6-foot-10 American captured the Atlanta title earlier this month and also made a run to the Washington D.C. final. But he came within one set of triumphing in D.C. for the first time before falling to Kei Nishikori on Sunday. Isner is now 0-3 lifetime in title matches at that event. He has also reached the semifinals on two other occasions but still has never lifted the winner's trophy. That's gotta sting. Novak Djokovic is an even-money favorite to win the U.S. Open.

Kevin Harvick . Harvick is still the points leader in the Sprint Cup standings, but he may be losing sleep over what transpired at Watkins Glen on Sunday. The No. 4 car led 29 of 90 laps on the road course and was comfortably ahead on the final loop. But it ran out of fuel literally seconds from the finish line, thus opening the door for Joey Logano's triumph. Kyle Busch moved into second, while Harvick stumbled through the checkered flag in the third spot. Harvick is a +400 favorite at Sportsbook.ag to win the Sprint Cup title. Busch is a +450 second choice.

Jim Furyk . This is getting borderline out of control for Furyk. Since winning the Tour Championship in 2011, the 45-year-old has held at least a share of a 54-hole lead 10 times. Not once has he sealed the deal on Sunday. The streak of futility reached double-digits this past weekend, when Furyk found himself tied atop the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with Justin Rose going into the last 18. Furyk promptly fired a two-over 72 and finished in a tie for third, four shots behind champion Shane Lowry. Jordan Spieth is a +550 favorite to win this week's PGA Championship ahead of Rory McIlroy (+900) and Dustin Johnson (+1200). Jason Day and Bubba Watson are both +1400.

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