This is a big series for the New York Yankees who fell to 4.5 games behind the Red Sox in the division after dropping two of three at Fenway Park over the weekend. They still gold the lead in the tight AL wild card race, but there are several teams chasing.

The Yankees 4-0 in their last four vs. a team with a losing record and I think they'll open this three-game series at Detroit with a much needed victory.

Left-hander Matthew Boyd (5-6, 5.70 ERA) will take the ball for Detroit. He has faced the Yankees once in his career, and that was last year when he surrendered four runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings. Boyd came out of the bullpen in Detroit's 8-5 loss against the Dodgers on Friday and allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings. He had allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on 15 hits and four walks in his last two starts prior to that outing.

The Yankees turn to right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (8-10, 4.92 ERA) who is 0-3 with a 4.56 ERA in four career starts against the Tigers, but he held them to one earned run in six innings earlier this month. Note that the Yankees are 10-2 in Tanaka's last 12 road starts vs. a team with a losing record and the Tigers have lsot six of their last seven overall.

My selection is an 8* play on New York Yankees ML.