First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York +170, Toronto -180, Total: 9

The Yankees will be looking to win this series with the Blue Jays when the teams play in Toronto on Wednesday.

The Yankees come into the final game of this series after having won three of their past four games and six of their past nine. Toronto won the first game of this series 4-2, but New York responded with a 6-4 victory in extra innings on Tuesday night. The Blue Jays’ lead in the AL East is down to 2.5 and this game is a crucial one for both teams. New York is going to be sending RHP Ivan Nova (6-8, 5.11 ERA, 46 K) to the mound and he’s going to be trying to outduel RHP Marcus Stroman (2-0, 3.00 ERA, 5 K) for Toronto. Even with the Yankees’ win on Tuesday, they are just 6-12 against the Blue Jays this season. Six of the eight games played between these teams in Toronto this season have gone Under the total. The Yankees are 44-23 against the money line after having won two of their last three games this season. The Blue Jays, however, are 43-20 against the money line at home when the total is 8.5 to 10 this season. Some key players are going to be out for both teams in this one, as 1B Mark Teixeira (Shin) is out for the season for the Yankees and SS Troy Tulowitzki (Ribs) is out indefinitely for the Blue Jays.

1B Greg Bird (.256, 10 HR, 28 RBI) was the hero for the Yankees on Tuesday, hitting a three-run homer in the 10th inning to win the game for the Yankees. Bird has been on fire recently, hitting five homers with 11 RBI over the past seven games alone. He’ll need to continue hitting for this team moving forward. One great sign for the Yankees at this point of the year is that OF Jacoby Ellsbury (.263, 7 HR, 32 RBI) has found his swing. Ellsbury had two doubles in the win on Tuesday and has now had three multi-hit games in a row for the Yankees. They’ll need him to continue getting on base the rest of the way. While the offense is always important for the Yankees, it will not matter for them if Ivan Nova can’t find his stuff on Wednesday. Nova’s most recent start was against this Toronto team and he was absolutely lit up in that one. It was on Sep. 12 and Nova gave up six earned runs on seven hits in just 1.2 innings of work. Prior to that start, however, Nova pitched 12 innings and allowed just six earned runs in his previous two outings. The Yankees will be in good shape if he can log a quality start for them.

Marcus Stroman is going to be pitching for the Blue Jays on Tuesday and he has looked good in his limited work this season. In his most recent start, Stroman pitched seven innings against the Red Sox and allowed just one earned run. His only other start was against this Yankees team and he allowed three earned runs in five innings in that start on Sep. 12. If Stroman can be solid on Wednesday then his offense will likely be able to come through or him. The Blue Jays’ best hitters have all really gotten to Ivan Nova in the past. OF Jose Bautista (.252, 36 HR, 105 RBI) is 7-for-19 with a homer and six RBI against Nova in his career. He’ll be looking to keep it up on Wednesday and so will 3B Josh Donaldson (.297, 39 HR, 120 RBI) and DH Edwin Encarnacion (.277, 35 HR, 105 RBI), who are a combined 13-for-38 with a homer and seven RBI against Nova. If these three bats can get it going on Wednesday then the Blue Jays will have no problem winning the series and extending their lead in the AL East.