MLB Tuesday review: Subway Series gets underway

bet365 News Team Updated: Jun 14 2023 18:57 Published: Jun 14 2023 12:50

The first Subway Series of the year did not disappoint, while the Orioles continue to prove their young roster can get it done.

After a rather slow Monday in terms of MLB action, Tuesday did not disappoint with several upsets and close one-run finishes. We also had four different teams put up double-digits, so there was no shortage of excitement as many teams were just getting their midweek series started.

Baltimore beats down Blue Jays

It’s no secret that the AL East is the strongest division in baseball. The Boston Red Sox are in last place with a 33-35 record, which would be rivaling both the AL Central and NL Central for the top spot. While they may have fallen on Tuesday, the intra-division battle between the Orioles and Blue Jays was a thriller.

O’s youngster Gunnar Henderson received news that he was named AL player of the week on Monday and wasted no time trying to earn back-to-back honors with his grand slam in the bottom of the second inning. That led to six runs total in the frame, giving the O’s a commanding 8-1 lead.

In fact, Baltimore homered four times in the game en route to an 11-6 victory. That puts them at 42-24, yet they’re still four games back from the Tampa Bay Rays atop the AL East. There are just five teams in the MLB with over 40 wins, and after years and years of disappointment, Baltimore looks to have finally turned things around with their roster full of youth.

As they continue to prove doubters wrong and exceed expectations, the Orioles are now -140 to make the playoffs, with the Blue Jays listed at -180 odds to do the same.

Judge-less Yankees handle Scherzer

Another AL East team in action on Tuesday night was the New York Yankees. However, they were still without Aaron Judge after injuring his toe running into an outfield wall going for a fly ball a few days ago. Not only that, but they were also facing future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer on the mound.

Despite the odds pointing against them, the Bronx Bombers got it done. They even had to come back from going down 5-1 in just three innings. Giancarlo Stanton got the scoring started with a solo home run, but it was their five-run fourth inning led by a DJ LeMahieu home run that allowed them to take the lead and ultimately escape with a close 7-6 series-opening win.

There is certainly still concern with the Yankees rotation, as Luis Severino has still not looked his best after starting the season on the injured list with a lat injury. On the topic of injuries, the hope is the Judge will be back after just a brief 10-day stint on the IL. As for the Mets, they’re trying to weather the Subway Series and the next couple of weeks without Pete Alonso, who still leads the MLB in home runs despite missing the last handful of games.

Even after the win, the Yankees are still behind both the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles to win the AL East at +900 odds.

Worst beats the best

Although their win percentage may now be slightly above the Kansas City Royals, the Oakland Athletics have had a historically terrible start to their 2023 season. It’s gotten so bad so quickly that all the focus surrounding their franchise has been their seemingly inevitable move to Las Vegas.

With that in mind, fans of the A’s decided to organize a bit of a reverse boycott. In other words, rather than refusing to attend the games, they decided to try and sell them out in support to demonstrate that the fans were not the problem. While it likely won’t make a difference, there’s no denying that Oakland has been pulling off surprising upsets.

They were able to defeat the MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Tuesday night to win the first two games of their four-game series. That brings their current win streak to seven after also sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend. Even with the upset to begin the series, the Rays are still massive -275 favorites to win on Wednesday night.

Despite the loss, the Rays still remain the favorites to win the 2023 World Series at +375 odds and the American League at +200 odds.