Friday, May 9

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

Toronto (17-19) at Cleveland (16-18)

The Blue Jays trot out right-hander Roy Halladay (3-4, 3.00 ERA) to open a four-game series at Progressive Field against the Indians, who will start struggling left-hander C.C. Sabathia (1-5, 7.51) in a battle of aces.

Toronto is coming off a three-game home series against Tampa Bay in which the Jays dropped the opener 5-4, won the second game 6-2, then gave up five runs in the 13th inning to suffer an 8-3 loss Thursday night in the finale. The Blue Jays are still on a 6-2 tear in their last eight games.

Cleveland is returning home after a three-game set at Yankee Stadium, in which it took the the first two games by scores of 5-3 and 3-0, then finished out the series with Thursday's 6-3 loss. Despite taking two of three from New York, the Indians are only 4-6 in their last 10 games overall.

Cleveland is on a 12-1 run against Toronto at home and is 17-6 in the last 23 matchups overall, including taking four of six games from the Blue Jays each of the last three seasons. One positive for Toronto: It is 5-1 in Halladay's last six starts against Cleveland.

Halladay halted a three-game losing streak in his last start Sunday, allowing three runs on three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings en route to a 4-3 home win over the Chicago White Sox. Halladay has gotten a decision in all seven of his starts this year, and he's gone no less than seven innings each time out, including four complete games, going just 1-3 in those contests.

Halladay is 5-0 with a 3.77 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) against Cleveland, including two complete games. In his only start against the Tribe last year, he allowed five runs on nine hits in just 5 2/3 innings, but he got the win as Toronto took an 8-6 home victory.

Sabathia, also making his eighth start of the year, has lost his last two, most recently giving up four runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings as Cleveland fell 4-2 to Kansas City at home on Saturday. That loss came on the heels of a 1-0 home setback to New York in which Sabathia went eight strong innings, allowing the one run on four hits. Sabathia is 6-3 with a 3.71 ERA lifetime against Toronto, including allowing three runs on four hits (three of them homers) in six innings in a 12-4 win over the Jays the only time he faced them last year.

Halladay is 1-3 despite a solid 2.76 ERA in four road starts this year, while Sabathia is 0-4 with a beefy 9.33 ERA in five home outings.

The Blue Jays are riding slumps of 2-7 on the highway, 1-7 in series openers, 3-7 against left-handed starters, 1-4 as a road dog, 1-5 with Halladay as a road dog and 3-11 in Halladay's last 14 starts overall on the road. On the positive side, though, Toronto is on runs of 5-0 against the A.L. Central, 10-4 on Friday, 21-7 with Halladay starting a series opener, 50-15 with Halladay facing a losing team and a stellar 62-29 in Halladay's last 91 starts overall.

The Indians are 25-11 in Sabathia's last 36 Friday starts, but 4-11 in their last 15 as a home chalk. In fact, they're just 8-11 at Progressive Field this season.

For Toronto, the under is on streaks of 20-8 overall, 5-0 in Halladay's last five startsl, 4-0 against lefties and 36-15-2 on the road. For Cleveland, the under is on runs of 5-0 overall, 7-0 against the A.L. East, 6-1 at home against righties, 7-2 at Progressive Field overall and 6-2 as a favorite.

Conversely, the over is 12-5-3 in Halladay's last 20 series-opening starts, 10-4 in Cleveland's last 14 series openers and 6-1 in Sabathia's last seven Game 1 starts, and the total has gone high in five of the last six meetings in this rivalry.

ATS ADVANTAGE: CLEVELAND

N.Y. Yankees (18-18) at Detroit (15-21)

Kei Igawa makes his first big-league start of the season when he leads the Yankees into Comerica Park for a three-game weekend series against the slumping Tigers, who are set to hand the ball to veteran left-hander Kenny Rogers (2-3, 6.27 ERA).

After dropping the first two games of a home series against the Indians, New York came back on Thursday afternoon and avoided the sweep with a 6-3 victory. The up-and-down Yankees are just 4-5 in their last nine games, including being on the wrong end of three-game sweep against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium on April 29-May 1.

Detroit comes into this series having dropped six of its last seven, including losing three of four to Boston to begin this week. Despite having one of the most feared lineups in the major leagues, the Tigers have been held to three runs or less five times during their 1-6 slump, and that includes Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Red Sox.

The Tigers' three-game sweep of New York 10 days ago was historic in that it was the first time since 1966 that Detroit swept a three-game set in the Bronx. Rogers pitched the opener on April 29, yielding two runs on six hits in six innings as Detroit won 6-4. The Tigers have won the last five clashes in this rivalry and are 6-1 in the last seven meetings in Detroit.

Igawa, who was just recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, went 2-3 with a 6.25 ERA in 14 games (12 starts) for the Yanks in his rookie season last year, including 0-2 with a 5.76 ERA in five starts on the highway. The 28-year-old southpaw from Japan did not face the Tigers last year.

Rogers got his second no-decision of the season on Sunday at Minnesota, giving up five runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings, with Detroit blowing a 6-0 first-inning lead and losing 7-6. Rogers is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in two home starts this year and 6-7 with a 6.25 ERA in 36 career regular-season games (15 starts) against the Yankees. Prior to his April 29 victory over New York, Rogers hadn't faced the Yankees since the 2006 A.L. Divisional playoffs when he pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings in a 6-0 win in Detroit.

The Yankees are on a 14-6 run against teams with a losing home record and are 4-0 in their last four as an underdog and 5-2 in their last seven as a road pup, but they carry losing trends of 8-19 against left-handed starters, 2-6 on Friday and 1-5 against the A.L. Central. New York also went 1-4 in Igawa's five road starts in 2007.

The Tigers are on a 4-0 tear against lefties and are further runs of 4-1 at home against left-handers, 7-3 as a home chalk, 35-17 in Rogers' last 52 starts overall, 20-7 in his last 27 home starts, 14-6 with Rogers going on four days' rest and 4-1 with Rogers facing an A.L. East opponent. On the downside, Detroit is 1-5 in its last six as a favorite.

The under is 25-10-1 for the Yankees this season, including 13-5 on the road (4-0 last four on the road). The under is on further runs for New York of 12-1-1 against losing teams, 5-0 on the road against left-handed starters, 8-1-1 against the A.L. Central. Conversely, for Detroit, the over is on streaks of 11-2-2 at Comerica against left-handed starters, 4-0-1 overall in Rogers' starts, 6-0-1 when Rogers goes on four days' rest and 7-2 with Rogers a favorite. However, the under is 17-8-2 in Rogers' last 27 home starts.

ATS ADVANTAGE: DETROIT

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