The Daily Sweat: Last-place Yankees try to turn it around before deadline vs. Rays
Six batters into Sunday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Yankees trailed 6-0.
That pretty much sums up the Yankees this season. They're in last place in the AL East. They just dropped two of three to the upstart Orioles. And it doesn't get easier for New York, with the Tampa Bay Rays coming to the Bronx.
The Yankees are underdogs, and rightfully so, against the Rays on Monday. The Yankees are +110 at BetMGM for the series opener.
It's an interesting couple of days for the Yankees. They're nine games behind first-place Baltimore in the division. They're 3.5 back in the wild-card race, which doesn't seem so bad. But are the Yankees capable of making a run? The answer to that question will determine if they're buyers or sellers before Tuesday's trade deadline.
Bettors who have been fading the Yankees — anyone betting $100 on the Yankees every game is down $371 this season, according to Covers.com — might not want them to be sellers. That would probably lead to some big odds shifts in Yankees games. Bettors who have caught on to the Yankees' mediocrity want to keep the value against them. New York is just 21-27 since the end of May.
Baseball ebbs and flows, and maybe the Yankees do have a revival coming now that Aaron Judge is back in the lineup or if they add at the deadline hoping to get a wild-card spot. But for two months, they've been one of the more profitable teams to bet against.
Here's the first look at the sports betting slate for Monday:
Rest of MLB
There are 10 games on the MLB schedule Monday. There's a fun AL East showdown as the Orioles travel to Canada to face the Toronto Blue Jays. The Orioles are up 1.5 games in the division, but the Jays are 12 games over .500 and in a wild-card spot. The Jays are a fairly heavy -150 favorite in the series opener.
In the NL Central, the Cincinnati Reds are in first place, but the Chicago Cubs have been hot and are just four games behind Cincinnati. The Cubs are -120 favorites for the first game of the series against the Reds in Chicago.
Women's World Cup continues
It has been a bit difficult to keep up with the Women's World Cup given that it's happening in New Zealand. The United States plays Tuesday but at 3 a.m. ET. The USWNT, coming off a draw against the Netherlands, is a -350 favorite against Portugal.
What's the best bet?
I'll fade the Yankees and take the Rays and Tyler Glasnow as -135 favorites. The Rays haven't been great since a magical April, but they're still better than the struggling Yankees lately.
