Free Daily Lock Pick: NFL: Saints vs Panthers- September 18th – Max Confidence Comp
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It's no secret that these teams don't like each other. Well, the Toronto Blue Jays (83-67) and New York Yankees (76-74) have six more meetings this season, beginning with this Tuesday clash. Each franchise has the chance to bury the other's season depending on how the six games finish. River Avenue gets round one, as each team flew to the Bronx for this series. The first pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT. Let's see what happens when these AL East rivals test their might head-to-head on Tuesday night.
Toronto got a much-needed sweep over the weekend, erasing the damage of the disastrous Rangers series before it. It also came against Boston which is notable because the Blue Jays have been awful against the AL East this season. Toronto is now 15-25 in division games, a number that needs to keep improving if they want to avoid the 1.5-game gap between them and an empty October.
Their pitching, which has carried the team (they rank 5th in runs allowed), has been noticeably worse against AL East rivals. The Blue Jays have also taken a bit of a dip on the mound in September. Lefty Yusei Kikuchi will start this game trying to right the ship. His only start against New York came in Yankee Stadium,when Kikuchi held the Yankees to one run over 6.0 innings in a win. However, he has also allowed six runs in two of his three starts this month. Kikuchi's K/BB in September has only been lower in one month t his season, May, which was his worst month of 2023. The Blue Jays have a strong bullpen that's top 10 in WAR, FIP, and ERA, but Kikuchi needs to keep it close for them to be useful.
As for the offense, they hit better on the road. Toronto has scored 55 more runs in away games than at home in the same number of tries. The team's slash line also jumps to .265/.335/.432 as visitors. Toronto is sixth in OBP and sixth in strikeout rate. Their team batting average is .257 (10th), while the Blue Jays also walk 8.9% (12th) of the time. Baserunning gets the Jays in trouble and their home run counter is uninspiring. Still, there are plenty of teams wishing they put up 4.53 runs per game. The perfect example is right in front of them.
Free Daily Lock Pick: NFL: Saints vs Panthers- September 18th – Max Confidence Comp Click to see the pick now