New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays odds, picks and best bets

The New York Yankees (31-23) and Toronto Blue Jays (28-26) play Game 2 of a four-game series Tuesday at Toronto's temporary 2020 home, Sahlen Field in Buffalo. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Yankees-Blue Jays MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.

Monday: The Blue Jays won 11-5.

Playoff picture: With six games remaining, the Blue Jays trail the Yankees by 3 games for second place in the AL East. However, they hold a 4-game lead over the Seattle Mariners (24-30) for the AL's final wild-card spot.

The Yankees, who already clinched a postseason berth, fell 4½ games behind the Tampa Bay Rays (36-19) for first place in AL East.

Season series: Yankees lead 4-3.

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Yankees at Blue Jays: Projected starting pitchers

RHP Gerrit Cole vs. RHP Tanner Roark

Cole is 6-3 with a 3.00 ERA (66 IP, 22 ER) with 87 K in 11 starts.

• Last start: Win, 7 IP (CG), 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K vs. Blue Jays Wednesday - Yankees won 13-2
• Last 3 starts: 2-1, 0.90 ERA (20 IP, 2 ER), 27 K
• Career vs. Blue Jays: 2-0, 3.50 ERA (18 IP, 7 ER) in 3 starts, including 1-0 in 2020 - his last start mentioned above

Roark is 2-2 with a 6.41 ERA (39 1/3 IP, 28 ER) in 9 starts.

• Last start: Loss, 4 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 4 HR vs. Yankees Wednesday - Blue Jays lost 13-2
• Career vs. Yankees: 1-2, 5.75 ERA (20 1/3 IP, 13 ER) in 3 starts, including 0-1, 9.00 ERA (8 IP, 8 ER) in 2 starts this season

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Yankees at Blue Jays: Key injuries

(Get the latest injury news here.)

Blue Jays

• OF Derek Fisher (knee) out
• RP Ken Giles (forearm) out
• RP Julian Merryweather (elbow) out
• RP Jordan Romano (finger) out
• 1B Rowdy Tellez (knee) out

Yankees at Blue Jays: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 9:23 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 3

Money line (ML)

With Cole on the hill, the Yankees (-278) are close to 3-to-1 favorites. I just can't lay that kind of chalk in a regular-season game. I'll PASS and focus on the run line.

New to sports betting? Every winning $2.78 bet on the Yankees ML will profit $1. Every $1 bet on the Blue Jays (+240) profits $2.40 if they win.

Run line/Against the spread (ATS)

The Yankees are such a big favorite that BetMGM is going with a +/-2.5 run line. New York is -2.5 (-115); Toronto is +2.5 (-106).

I'm going play an alternate line and back the YANKEES -1.5 ( -167). It's still a bit costly, but each of Cole's six wins this season have been by 3 or more runs. Plus, Roark has struggled vs. New York, including his last start when he served up 4 homers.

Over/Under (O/U)

The OVER 9.5 ( -110) is worth a small play - which should be half your usual wager. If it wasn't for Cole, I'd hammer the Over as a "strong play" the way these two clubs have been scoring runs against each other.

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