Yankees vs Blue Jays Best Bet: Why Kevin Thomas Rides New York in Game 2 — June 13, 2026

Kevin Thomas is back on the Tony’s Picks YouTube channel with a free MLB winner for Saturday, June 13, 2026, and he is heading straight to the American League East for it. The matchup is the New York Yankees against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second game of a key divisional series, and the capper wasted no time getting his video out early so bettors could grab the number before the public hammered it. His free play is the New York Yankees on the money line, and below we break down exactly why he landed on the Bronx Bombers.

Yankees vs Blue Jays: The Pitching Matchup

The arm that anchors Kevin’s lean is Cam Schlittler, the young Yankees right-hander who takes the mound looking for a bounce-back outing. Schlittler has been working roughly five innings per start of late, and he draws a Blue Jays lineup he has already faced this season. Back on May 20 he took a loss to Toronto in a tight 2-1 game, but Kevin was quick to point out that the rookie did not pitch poorly in that spot. He limited the damage, kept the Yankees within striking distance, and surrendered hits rather than crooked numbers on the scoreboard.

That distinction is everything when handicapping a young starter. A pitcher who scatters singles but avoids the big inning is far more bettable than one who melts down under traffic, and Schlittler has shown the temperament to wriggle out of jams. Facing a division rival for the second time in a month, he also carries a scouting advantage: he has seen Toronto’s swings, knows which hitters chase, and can adjust his sequencing. Familiarity cuts both ways, but a confident young arm armed with recent video is exactly the profile Kevin trusts in a get-right spot.

On the other side, the projected starter for Toronto is veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman. Gausman has been a steady but streaky presence this year, capable of dominating one night and laboring the next. Kevin Thomas acknowledged that Gausman has been “pretty decent, up and down,” which is a fair read on a pitcher whose splitter can carry him when it is sharp and betray him when it flattens out. With two right-handers toeing the rubber, both managers will lean on platoon advantages, and that becomes a central piece of the handicap.

Why the Yankees Lineup Tilts the Edge

This is where the matchup gets interesting. New York is without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, two of the most fearsome bats in the sport, which on the surface looks like a major problem for the offense. Instead, Kevin flips that concern into an angle. With Gausman throwing from the right side, Ben Rice slides back into the number-two hole in the order, and the lefty bat profiles well against Gausman’s arsenal.

Toronto spent the first game of the series pitching around and walking certain Yankees hitters, a sign the staff respects what is left in the New York lineup even without its stars.

That respect matters. When a pitching staff is willing to issue free passes rather than challenge hitters, runners clog the bases and innings extend. Kevin sees a path where New York manufactures just enough offense against Gausman to support Schlittler’s start. The Yankees do not need a slugfest here; they need a couple of timely hits, a walk or two, and a quality five or six innings from their young righty before the bullpen takes over. That is a realistic blueprint against a Toronto club that has been inconsistent at the plate.

It is also worth remembering how dangerous a wounded contender can be. The Yankees have built their identity on depth, and role players tend to elevate when the marquee names are sidelined. A short-handed lineup that keeps grinding at-bats can wear down a starter like Gausman, who occasionally runs his pitch count up early. If New York can chase him by the sixth and get into Toronto’s middle relief, the math on this game shifts further in the Bombers’ favor.

The Line and the Public Money

From a market standpoint, Kevin flagged the Yankees at roughly -125 with the Blue Jays sitting around +105 as the video went live. He noted that the public is heavily pumping up New York, which is exactly why he stresses getting these picks out early. Lines like this tend to climb as casual money piles onto the more recognizable brand, so the value on the Yankees number shrinks by the hour. If you share Kevin’s read, the lesson is to act before the price drifts toward -135 or worse.

Context from the first game also feeds the angle. As Kevin recorded, the Yankees trailed early but had just scored three runs to claw back into it, and he expects Toronto to throw everything it has at trying to close out that opener. A team that empties the tank emotionally and physically in game one can come out flat in the nightcap, and that is precisely the kind of letdown spot New York could exploit with a fresh arm in Schlittler.

The Total: Lean Toward the Under

Although the money line is the headline play, Kevin made it clear he is also eyeing the under with these two right-handers on the hill. Schlittler limits hard contact when his fastball is located, and Gausman misses bats with the splitter when it is diving. Take away Judge and Stanton from the New York side, and a chunk of the game’s thunder disappears with them. Lower-scoring, pitcher-friendly scripts are the natural result, so an under lean is a logical secondary position for bettors who want a second bite at this matchup.

A Prop to Watch: Jesus Sanchez

Kevin also floated a player prop worth monitoring on the Toronto side. He likes Jesus Sanchez, who slots in well against right-handed pitching and already collected two hits in the opening game of the series. With Schlittler throwing from the right side, Sanchez profiles as a plus-money option for something in the hits, runs, or RBI family. Kevin specifically mentioned looking at an over on a combined hits-plus-runs-plus-RBI line, or an RBI prop, to squeeze plus money out of a hitter who has shown he can do damage in this exact platoon spot.

The Bottom Line

Putting it all together, Kevin Thomas is riding the New York Yankees on the money line as his free play for June 13. The reasoning is layered: a young arm in Cam Schlittler who already showed he can hang with Toronto, a Gausman matchup that pushes the favorable lefty bat of Ben Rice up the order, a Blue Jays staff that has been willing to walk Yankees hitters, and a public-tilted line that rewards early action. He pairs that with an under lean on the total and a Jesus Sanchez prop sprinkle for bettors hunting plus-money value.

If you want to play this responsibly, treat the money line as the anchor, consider a smaller unit on the under as a correlated secondary, and shop the Sanchez prop across books to find the best plus-money number. Bankroll discipline is what separates winning bettors from the crowd that chases the loudest favorite, and Kevin’s early-line approach is built on exactly that principle of beating the closing number.

As always, none of this is a guarantee, and Kevin is the first to remind viewers that baseball is a game of variance where the best handicap can still run into a bad bounce or a blown bullpen. But the process here is sound, the angles are grounded in real matchup data, and the value on the number is best captured early. For more free picks and premium plays from the top handicappers, head over to tonyspicks.com and keep it locked to the Tony’s Picks YouTube channel. Good luck, and bet responsibly.