MLB Monday Recap: Yankees’ Troubles Worsen
Injury-Plagued Yankees Face 8.5-Game Deficit in AL East
Major League Baseball moneyline favorites enjoyed a profitable start to the week, going 5-3 on Monday. The Atlanta Braves got the action going by outlasting the New York Mets 9-8 in the first game of a doubleheader at Citi Field. Catcher Sean Murphy slugged two of Atlanta’s four homers. Let’s look at the rest of the results in our MLB Monday recap.
Slow Start in the Bronx
As usual, the World Series odds at +750. Only the Houston Astros, last year’s winner, boasted better overall odds (+650).
Despite that, it’s been a tough start for New York. At 15-15, the Yankees have already fallen 8.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays (23-6) in the AL East. Only four teams are currently facing a bigger division deficit.
To this point, injuries have been mostly to blame. Outfielder Aaron Judge, the four-time All-Star and reigning AL Most Valuable Player, was placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday due to a right hip strain, ing pitchers Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas, among others. Judge, who won’t be eligible to return to the lineup until May 8, is hitting .261 with six homers and 14 RBI through 26 games. He signed a nine-year, $360 million contract in the offseason.
Fly the W
The Washington Nationals 5-1. Shortstop Dansby Swanson went 3-for-5 with a home run to left-hander Drew Smyly, who pitched seven strong innings to earn the victory.
Chicago improved to 15-13 to keep pace with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh.
Favorites Have the Edge
The Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on a walk-off home run by outfielder Alex Verdugo. Jarren Duran and Enmanuel Valdez also homered for Boston, which was priced at +130 on the moneyline.
Elsewhere in our MLB Monday recap, the New York Mets (+100) beat the Cleveland Guardians (+110) rallied past the Yankees 3-2 behind a three-run ninth inning.
The other five underdogs went 0-5 on the moneyline.
Overs Finish Strong
Philadelphia Phillies 13-4 in the highest-scoring game of the day, easily suring the projected total of 8.5 runs. The 17 combined runs matched the total from the first game of the Atlanta-New York doubleheader, a 9-8 Braves victory. The over/under for that game was also 8.5.
The Braves have now hit or exceeded the over in 18 of their first 29 games (17-11-1). At 60.7% they own the fifth-highest rate in MLB behind Texas (65.4) and Tampa Bay (61.5).
Unsurprisingly, the Guardians and Yankees, who have the two worst records against the over, combined for the fewest runs of any game (5) in our MLB Monday recap.
For pointspreads.com
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