The Daily Sweat: Yankees can get first series win since July with win over Mets

The month of August has been brutal for the New York Yankees, but the club’s weeks-long series win drought could come to an end on Tuesday against the crosstown rival New York Mets.

The Yankees and Mets are playing a brief two-game set in the Bronx and the Yankees took Game 1 4-2 on Monday night thanks to a strong start from Domingo German and another home run from Aaron Judge, his league-leading 47th.

With the win, the Yankees notched back-to-back wins for the first time since July 29 and 30. However, they are still only 6-14 in August while the streaking Mets are 15-8. If the Yankees win on Tuesday night to complete the two-game sweep, it will mark their first series win since taking three of four from the Kansas City Royals in the final week of July.

To get that done, though, one of the Yankees’ trade deadline acquisitions needs to come through. Frankie Montas, added from the Oakland A’s at the deadline, has struggled mightily in a Yankees uniform. In three starts, the 6-foot-2 righty has allowed 14 earned runs in 14 innings. Since the deal, his ERA has ballooned from 3.18 to 3.87.

Nonetheless, he’ll get the ball from Aaron Boone on Tuesday night with Taijuan Walker on the hill for the Mets. Walker left his last start after just two innings due to back spasms but is back in the rotation with the Mets opting to give ace Jacob deGrom a few extra days of rest (the Mets have Wednesday off, so deGrom will pitch either Thursday or Friday vs. Colorado).

The Yankees are -125 favorites at BetMGM for Tuesday night’s game with the Mets listed at +105. If you want to go with the Yankees on the run line (-1.5), you get +150 odds.

What else is going on in MLB?

It’s another busy Tuesday in Major League Baseball.

Included in the action are the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals, who have a double-header with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals are the hottest team in baseball, currently on an eight-game winning streak and five games up in the NL Central standings. The Cardinals are -185 favorites for the first game and -130 in the nightcap.

Another hot team is the Atlanta Braves, who have won 12 of 14 and are gaining ground on the Mets in the NL East. The Braves are huge -275 favorites in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

In the American League, two teams fighting for playoff spots — the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles — meet at Camden Yards. The road White Sox are -145 favorites.

There’s also an interesting interleague series beginning as the San Diego Padres host the Cleveeland Guardians. The Guardians are in a tight race in the AL Central while the Padres are battling for an NL Wild Card spot. The Padres are -150 favorites with the Guardians at +125.

College football is right around the corner

While the NFL preseason trudges on, we’re just days away from the beginning of the college football regular season. On Saturday, there are seven FBS vs. FBS matchups.

The headliner of the bunch is Nebraska and Northwestern squaring off in Ireland. Both teams are coming off 3-9 seasons in 2021 but Nebraska is a 12.5-point favorite. The Huskers lost so many close games last year and many are expecting the program’s long-awaited turnaround under Scott Frost to come this year. To do that, the Huskers need to get off to a strong start against a less-talented team.

Other games on the card include Wyoming at Illinois (-10), Charlotte at Florida Atlantic (-7.5), North Texas (-1) at UTEP and Vanderbilt (-7) at Hawaii.

It’s not the best collection of games, but it’s football.

What's the best bet?

I'll take the Phillies on the run line (-1.5) at -105 at home against the Cincinnati Reds. Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez has allowed four earned runs combined over his last six starts, including seven shutout innings against the Reds last week.

After getting beat up by the Mets a bit, the Phillies need to take advantage of these games against bad teams.