MLB picks: Blue Jays vs. Yankees, Dodgers vs. Rockies (Sept. 17)

The New York Yankees will attempt to sweep their three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night, while the Los Angeles Dodgers will start a four-game set with Colorado Rockies. Here are our best bets for the evening.

Toronto Blue Jays (26-22) at New York Yankees (28-21), 7:05 p.m. ET

It’s been a brutal series for the Blue Jays against the division-rival Yankees thus far, but there’s still one game to go. New York should secure the sweep behind the arm of Masahiro Tanaka.

Tanaka (2-2, 3.16 ERA) has a 2.76 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in three starts this month. In his last six starts against Toronto, Tanaka is 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA and a 33-4 strikeout-walk ratio. He’s backed by a Bombers bullpen that’s been highly effective over the last week, producing a 2.51 ERA, sixth in the majors.

Chase Anderson (0-1, 5.81 ERA) has been struggling lately, authoring a 13.50 ERA in two starts this month. He’s served up six home runs in just 26 1/3 innings of work this year, which plays right into the Yankees’ hands – they’re fourth in homers in 2020 (82).

The 20-run and 13-run outputs by the Bombers over the first two games of this series have skewed the numbers of the Blue Jays’ bullpen over the last seven days (an MLB-worst 12.93), but the September numbers for this relief corps weren’t great to begin with as they sit at a 6.99 ERA, fourth-worst in the majors.

Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu has seven hits, including three homers along with eight RBI, in the first two games of this series – look for him to build on that here.

MLB pick: Yankees run line

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Los Angeles Dodgers (35-15) at Colorado Rockies (22-26), 8:40 p.m. ET

There should be runs aplenty on Thursday night as the Dodgers bring their third-ranked offense (5.58 runs per game) into Colorado to begin a four-game series with the Rockies.

Kyle Freeland gets the ball for Colorado, and his 2020 home splits are far from inspiring – his ERA spikes from 3.54 overall to 4.22, and his opponent batting average soars from .267 to .303. L.A. third baseman Justin Turner, 12-for-26 lifetime against Freeland, should have a good day at the plate, especially once the Rockies’ MLB-worst bullpen for the month of September (8.44 ERA) gets involved.

Julio Urias counters for the Dodgers, and he was tagged for four runs in just 4 1/3 innings of work against Colorado on Sept. 6. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado has always had Urias’ number, going 6-for-11 lifetime with four RBI. L.A.’s bullpen has not been a shutdown unit in September, producing a 4.38 ERA, 14th in the majors.

MLB pick: Over