The New York Yankees have lost four straight and are all of a sudden only owning a 0.5 game lead ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays for the for the AL East division title. The Cleveland Indians won last night's series-opener 5-4 as the Yankees blew a two-run, 10th-inning lead eventually falling in the 16th, but I like the Yankees chances of holding the distance tonight.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Indians hand the ball to Danny Salazar (9-6, 3.38) who's 2-2 with a minuscule 1.53 ERA in his last five starts. He's not received much run-support over that span though and the Indians' offense is likely to struggle tonight as well as the Yankees are countering with CC Sabathia. The veteran left-hander is off six innings of one-run ball against the Red Sox and he's 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA against the Indians in his career.

2. Batter vs. Pitcher - This Cleveland team has a .217 batting average against Sabathia and the Indians are 3-13 in their last 16 games when facing a left-handed starter on the mound.

3. X-Factor - Carlos Beltran was 2-for-4 with a homer last night and he's batting .375 over the last seven days.

Selection: This is a play on the New York Yankees +1.5 (8*)