Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees 6/26/19: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Betting Odds

TV/Radio Section

Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees, 6/26/19 10:05 AM ET Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
TV: Blue Jays (SNET, TVA Sports), Yankees (YES)
Radio: Blue Jays (SN590), Yankees (WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280)

Matchup Preview

As they did in the Houston Astros series, the Yankees will once again look for a sweep in the final game of the series against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. Tuesday’s game was a tight one as the Yanks barely squeezed out a 4-3 victory. However, the storyline on Tuesday night had all eyes on which Yankee batter would launch the first home run out of the park. With the 6th pitch in the Bottom of the 1st, DJ LeMahieu launched helped set the Yankees’ consecutive game home run record at 28 games.

For the finale in the series, Toronto will have Trent Thorton (2-5) take the mound. He holds a 4.25 ERA on the year and has been a bright spot in the rotation. Though not a household name, he has been a good showing thus far and looks to have another spot in the rotation next year. The rookie hurler has great strikeout rate though walking 4.1 batters per nine may need some work.

Opposing him will be Yankees ace, James Paxton (5-3). After early season success, Paxton was sideline but returned very strong. There’s reports that he’s still dealing with a lingering issue with his knee and has had the mound adjusted for him in home starts. Whatever the case may be, Paxton has shown great peripherals and has been rewarded with victories in his past two starts.

Toronto Blue Jays Starting Lineup

1. Cavan Biggio (L) 2B
2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) DH
3. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) LF
4. Randal Grichuk (R) RF
5. Rowdy Tellez (L) 1B
6. Teoscar Hernandez (L) CF
7. Freddy Galvis (S) SS
8. Brandon Drury (R) 3B
9. Danny Jansen (R) C

Blue Jays Analysis

The Blue Jays offense was once again stagnant in the early going, scoring only in the 6th and 9th innings. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. recorded only 2 hits to lead the team and overall, Toronto wasn’t able to do much against the Yankees pitching outside of Nestor Cortes Jr. They did knock in a run against New York’s closer, Aroldis Chapman, but that’s where their comeback would end.

Though only being in the division this year, the Blue Jays have seen Paxton before. Teoscar Hernandez has had the most at-bats against him with 14 though with limited success. His .214 career batting average doesn’t exactly present something to be excited about. The most successful batter against Paxton has been Randal Grichuk who’s gone 3 for 5 with a home run. Other notable include Vladamir Guerrero Jr. who’s hit .500 and Freddy Galvis and Brandon Drury who have both hit .200 off Paxton.

Trent Thornton has shown some good peripherals, especially in his past few starts. Last Friday, he went 6 ⅓ innings against the defending champion Boston Red Sox and only surrendered 2 runs. He struck out 7 and walked only 1 batter in that contest. On the road, he’s been especially good, sporting a 2.96 ERA compared to the 6.39 mark at home.

Yankees Starting Lineup

1. DJ LeMahieu (R) 3B
2. Aaron Judge (R) RF
3. Gary Sanchez (R) C
4. Luke Voit (R) 1B
5. Edwin Encarnancion (R) DH
6. Didi Gregorious (L) SS
7. Aaron Hicks (S) CF
8. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
9. Brett Gardner (L) LF

Yankees Analysis

Chad Green was effective as a starter though only going 1 inning in this game. Nestor Cortes Jr. finished the majority of the game going 4 ⅓ while giving up 2 runs. He bested Toronto’s traditional starter Clayton Richard who went 6 innings in his own right. On the offensive side, both of New York’s first two batters homered which gave them an early advantage. A Gleyber Torres homer in the 3rd expanded the lead to 3-0 and an 8th inning shot into the right field bleachers gave the Yanks an insurance run they needed.

The Yankees have yet to see much of rookie Trent Thornton outside of his June 5th matchup against them, In that game, Thornton allowed went exactly 5 innings and gave up 4 runs, including one homer. That home run belonged to Gary Sanchez who went 2 for 3 with a homer and 2 RBIs in that game. Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu also had success in that game against Thornton. They’ll enter Wednesday’s game with .500 and .333 batting averages, respectively.

It’s safe to say that James Paxton’s season thus far has seen some very mixed results. After getting knocked around for 11 runs in his first 3 starts, he only allowed 3 in his next five. Over his past 4 starts, he’s back on the trend of allowing opposing teams to score off of him. He’s faced the Blue Jays once this season and that was likely one to forget. He went just 4 ⅔ and gave up 4 runs, 1 of which was unearned. He will look to find his command early as he issued 3 walks and accumulated only 4 strikeouts in his previous matchup against Toronto.

Blue Jays vs Yankees Betting Odds

The line is currently set at Blue Jays +133, Yankees -133.
This game is going to be tough to call. On one hand, Trent Thornton is a great road pitcher but faces one of the best offenses in the league. For James Paxton, he struggled against the Blue Jays in his previous matchup and signs are pointing to him being better in this matchup. I’d wager in favor of the Yankees as their offense has simply been red hot and carried the team through their past winning stretch. The over/under is set at 9.2 runs.

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