Sports Betting Overview The Toronto Blue Jays are in a fragile situation. As the 2011 Kentucky Derby betting gets going, the Blue Jays are still within striking distance of the first place New York Yankees in the AL East. The situation is fragile because the sportsbook promo experts know that the Blue Jays could either continue to battle for the AL East lead, or fall from grace and stay fallen at this point in the season. So far, the MLB scores are in favor of the Blue Jays as they are almost .500 and only three and a half games out of first place. But the season is young, and the Blue Jays have a critical series with the Yankees coming up. The New York Yankees are flying high in the AL based mostly on their pitching. The Yankees have shown faults in the batting order, running bases and playing defense. But when the Yankee pitchers take the mound, they are playing like they are the best rotation in baseball. While New York may not possess the actual best starting rotation in baseball, they have been able to stay in some very tight games thanks to starters that can reach late innings and also thanks to closer Mariano Rivera. Rivera has had some problems this season, but he has been the steady closer that the Yankees have come to rely on. The only question is whether or not the Yankees can maintain this high level of play for the rest of the season. Toronto Blue Jays The Blue Jays are, once again, one of the premier power teams in the AL. Toronto is fourth on the AL home run list as a team, and second in triples. Starting pitching seems to be where the Blue Jays are running into issues. Jays’ pitchers are near the top of the AL in strikeouts, but near the bottom in complete games. To help remedy that for this game, Toronto sends Kyle Drabek to the mound. Drabek is 2-0 with a 3.30 ERA this season. His last outing was against the defending AL champion Texas Rangers where he went six innings and only allowed three runs to get the win. Drabek is looking for a measure of revenge against Yankees who roughed him up for four runs in five and a third innings back on April 19 for a no-decision. New York Yankees The Yankees send A.J. Burnett to the mound, and Burnett is on fire lately. He is 3-1 with a 3.52 ERA this season. But his only loss was an eight inning masterpiece against the White Sox where he only allowed one run on three hits. It was the spotty Yankee offense that abandoned Burnett in that game. Burnett and his control is the perfect kind of pitcher to take on the hard-hitting Blue Jays. Burnett is also the kind of pitcher that will get the game to Mariano Rivera without needing to use middle relief. The challenge for the Yankees is getting runs on Drabek while Burnett is still part of the equation. The Bottom Line The Yankees will continue to struggle hitting the ball, and Drabek will keep them down in this game. Burnett looks to be victimized again by a lack of offense in a game where he will put the Yankees in a position to win. Pick: Toronto Blue Jays
