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The New York Yankees were expected to run away with the NL East title this season, but they might not even finish second as the surging Toronto Blue Jays are right there with New York behind first-place Tampa Bay. It’s an important three-game series between the Yankees and Jays from Buffalo early this week. Here’s a look at Tuesday’s Game 2.

How to Bet Yankees at Blue Jays MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 6:37 PM ET
Where: Sahlen Field in Buffalo
Probable pitchers (away/home): JA Happ/Taijuan Walker
TV: MLB Extra Innings, MLB Network
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: TBA

Why Bet on NY Yankees?

The Yankees open the three-game series in the midst of a 5-13 slump, with their offense riddled by injuries and producing just about nothing. They lost three straight games over the weekend in Baltimore, scoring just five runs in the process.

“I think we’re frustrated. I think guys are pissed off. Understandable,” manager Aaron Boone said after Sunday’s 5-1 defeat. “But we’ve got to get through it. We’ve got to fight our way through it. We get on a plane right now up to Buffalo and we’ve got a big series starting tomorrow. We have to find a way to put a little bit more pressure offensively to get going here.”

New York remains without injured regulars Gio Urshela, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Urshela was the most recent to land on the injured list, dealing with a bone spur in his right elbow. Judge isn’t expected back until mid-September with a calf injury. Boone said Saturday that Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) ran the bases at half speed on Friday. Boone noted that Stanton has been running at up to 80 percent and that he’s a little ahead of Judge in his recovery.

Boone enters this series with 224 managerial wins and needs one win to surpass Lou Piniella (224) for sole possession of 10th place on the Yankees’ all-time managerial wins list. The Yankees have held a lead in six of their last 11 losses and eight of their 19 losses this season. Seven of their last nine losses have been by three runs-or-fewer.

It’s lefty JA Happ (1-1) on the mound. Happ yielded four runs and eight hits in five innings last Thursday in a no-decision against the Mets. Happ was given a four-run lead in the top of the second. Happ said that he pitched better than the box score indicated. In his previous start on Aug. 29, he held the same club to three hits in 7 1/3 scoreless frames. He now has a 4.68 ERA through five starts to go along with a 15:11 K:BB.

Why Bet on Toronto?

The Jays won three of five in Boston over the weekend. However, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez injured his rib area on Saturday and is going to miss a while. Hernandez is expected to get a second MRI exam on Monday. Hernandez has 14 home runs this season, one shy of Mike Trout’s American League lead.

With Hernández out, Derek Fisher got the start in right field and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in Toronto’s 10-8 victory in Sunday’s finale. Rowdy Tellez took his spot in the cleanup role Sunday. Tellez homered and picked up three hits on Sunday. Tellez took Robinson Leyer deep in the sixth inning to center, and it went an estimated 419 feet. Tellez now has homered eight times this year, and he’s plated 21 runs in 33 games. Those numbers along with a slash of .295/.361/.562

Exciting young shortstop Bo Bichette, who was hitting .361 overall and .563 in Sahlen Field before tweaking his knee on Aug. 15, is getting close to a return. He was hitting and taking groundballs over the weekend in Boston.

Closer Ken Giles (right forearm strain) is showing progress. Giles is expected to have one more session before the team makes a decision on his Major League future.

“Even though the hitters put a couple of barrels on some balls, I think [Giles’] pitches had life. The slider was regaining its form. Afterward, Giles felt really good. We are going to do it again,” pitching coach Peter Walker said.

It’s recent trade acquisition Taijuan Walker (3-2) on the mound. Walker allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision Thursday against the Red Sox. Walker allowed six hits, including a solo home run by Jackie Bradley Jr. in the second inning, and walked one while striking out four in the outing. It was a performance that should have been good enough for a win but opposing starter Martin Perez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning in the low-scoring affair.

Walker has been a great pickup since coming from the Mariners. He will be making his third start for Toronto. This time, it will be against the Yankees. He will face them for the third time in his career. He is 0-2 with a 3.95 ERA against them.