[Love The Action]

I'm rolling with Detroit on opening day and fading the Yankees. I feel that anything over +130 is great value for a game where Verlander is pitching. With all the pressure and distractions for the Yankees related to their home opener and the questions about Cabrera's offseason, I see the Yanks struggling and Detroit much more motivated and determined to come out strong.

The Yankees have lost the last two opening days and Sabathia has been shelled. In his two previous Opening Day starts, Sabathia is 0-1 with a 10.24 ERA -- that’s 11 earned runs in 9 2/3 innings.

Even though Verlander didn't fare that well last year on opening day against the Royals, he is the hotter pitcher coming into this game after having dominated all spring training and in a recent seven inning outing over the weekend. Furthermore, Verlander has been telling everyone that he could have won the Cy Young last year if he had started out better. This led to some adjustments in his offseason prep schedule, which ultimately led to his hot spring. I like this trend to continue into the season against the Yankees.

The Detroit outfield boasts some speed in Jackson along with some power in Mags. Cabrera is a monster and will always hit -- drunk or sober. Recent upgrades to the Detroit infield, most notably Victor Martinez at catcher, tell me this lineup can hit Sabathia tomorrow.

The Yankees can hit and always will. They are the bronx bombers and I don't see their offensive train stopping. However, Texeira and some of the other bombers are typically slow starters. Plus, with all the outside factors involved with a Yankees home opener, I'm thinking the Yankees players may have more than winning on their minds.

The Yankees boast a nice bullpen, assuming Mariano Rivera does not dip from usual stellar self. However, there are nagging injuries going on with the set up staff and I'm not sure cold weather will help. Zumaya is out for Detroit but I like Valverde, and Ryan Perry should have no problem handling the set up role for tomorrow.

The ML opened at Detroit +140 and has gone down despite 66% action on Yankees ML bets. Although, there really hasn't been much line movement yet. I'm currently getting Detroit +132 with NY -152.

I will probably wait till the morning and see if I can get a better price with late public Yankee money coming in.

My other opening day ML leans are the Nationals over the Braves, the Giants over the Dodgers and Milwaukee over the Reds. Not sure if I will play those yet.

I still have to cap NBA so I'm going to concentrate on only two MLB divisions right now -- the NL Central and AL Central. I think this will allow me to get a better handle on what is going on with the start of the season, while still cap NBA through the playoffs.

Good luck boys! Let's cash this ticket!

[CollegeOverUnder]

where else would the Yankee players mind be ? What other outside factors are you talking about?

[phillip]

JV at + money is always great value.

Not playing since I'm a huge Tigers fan, I hate betting on their games.

[Love The Action]

where else would the Yankee players mind be ? What other outside factors are you talking about?

I'm not talking about ARod steroid rumors or anything like that. I'm referencing the pressures that correlate with a baseball team opening at home. Not just any team, but the Yankees. The pressure to win, the extra requests that come with being a Yankees player opening at home, etc. I'm not saying this is a huge factor, but just one factor why I like the road team here.

The Yankees can always come out on top. However, I really like the price here for a Verlander start more than anything else. I like Verlander to have a big year and this is a big game for him.

I'll take Verlander here with the +130 ML. Good luck with whichever side/game you choose.

[CTOWNsCAPPIN]

I love fading CC early on in the season!

[Pauulzcappin]

CC might actually not be a wise fade here.

[suicidekings]

This line is as sharp as it can be, given that its opening day. Not an advantage bet...

[CollegeOverUnder]

I'm not talking about ARod steroid rumors or anything like that. I'm referencing the pressures that correlate with a baseball team opening at home. Not just any team, but the Yankees. The pressure to win, the extra requests that come with being a Yankees player opening at home, etc. I'm not saying this is a huge factor, but just one factor why I like the road team here.

The Yankees can always come out on top. However, I really like the price here for a Verlander start more than anything else. I like Verlander to have a big year and this is a big game for him.

I'll take Verlander here with the +130 ML. Good luck with whichever side/game you choose.

oh ok

[face]

under 8?

[nyplayer33]

How does opening day factor into this year...that's like saying one year ago exactly I met a blonde hottie....Sooooooooo

[strikeout]

Play Detroit and take the points.

[timmyboy34243]

detroit and the under for me..........

[Love The Action]

CC might actually not be a wise fade here.

Why not Paul? Thanks.

[Love The Action]

This line is as sharp as it can be, given that its opening day. Not an advantage bet...

SK - what is your line and what would you need the price to be to make a play on Detroit here? Any other thoughts on this game or others you may like?

I've always thought of you as one of the most insightful posters in the nba forum so your thoughts are definitely welcome here. Thanks.

[goblue1988]

Im rollin w JV and the Tigers. Love the value.

[FindTheLock]

I hate the yankees, but I don't like betting against them either.

[darren125]

I like the play on the Tigers.

[terrors3]

Yankees are too loaded Yanks and the under

[stogies]

play yankees at home vs tigers any time you get nyy -190 or better. gl

[InTheRed]

I'm not talking about ARod steroid rumors or anything like that. I'm referencing the pressures that correlate with a baseball team opening at home. Not just any team, but the Yankees. The pressure to win, the extra requests that come with being a Yankees player opening at home, etc. I'm not saying this is a huge factor, but just one factor why I like the road team here. The Yankees can always come out on top. However, I really like the price here for a Verlander start more than anything else. I like Verlander to have a big year and this is a big game for him. I'll take Verlander here with the +130 ML. Good luck with whichever side/game you choose.

You act like this is a new occurrance. The Yankees have always been the Yankees. The pressure of opening day has been long gone. Its expected and the players know that. If anything they have an even larger drive to win this game than the rest of the series.

Also, players come to the Yankees for this reason. To win. If there's a player on that team that will be affected negatively, he's on the wrong team.


This thread is the exact reason that any Yankees game is unbettable. You have Yankee haters finding any possible reason as to why you should take the other team. And on the other side, you have the Yankees, a very public team that unless they are playing BOS or PHI, you're getting them at -200 or worse.

[fergie's balls]

LTA - great write up, thanks for spending the time. i'm a huge Yankee homer and love Verlander today, though i'm going to wait before pulling trigger, and see if the rain picks up.

at first glance i liked Nationals also, Livan started real fast last year, and Lowe started real slow, Nats improved lineup, etc. however i like to really look at career AVGs and Nats studs all under .300 vs Lowe, most well below. on other side, Chipper, McCann, Heyward,Prado all have great #s vs Livan, so i'm going with Braves.

best of luck and i look forward to more great write ups! psyched for some baseball!!

also love Gallardo today by the way

[Love The Action]

Locked Tigers 1x (+ 140), Brewers .5x (+ 100) and Nationals .5x (+ 125).

Good luck today!

[baazigar]

lets get go tigers. one team last year that really brought my bank roll down. hopefully it starts well this year.

[darrell74]

Tigers +1 1/2 -160
Justin Verlander vs.
Carsten Charles Sabathia

2 aces that are sharp as hell
I like the Tiger bats to stay within a run

I can totally see the Yankees getting a late inning rally to get an entertaining game winner on opening day
Either way, it will be a fun opening day.

[drunkenbeaver]

The Yanks are the better team, have the better lineup, the better pitcher. I'm much more knowledgable in the NL, but isn't Verlander a big overrated POS?

[darrell74]

Two of the best pitchers in the American League will be on display Thursday at Yankee Stadium when the 2011 baseball campaign begins with a contest between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees. The matchup will be the first game of an ESPN Opening Day tripleheader starting at 10 a.m. (PT).

Most offshore sports books monitored by the Don Best Sports odds product have opened New York, with CC Sabathia on the mound, as a 145 home favorite against Justin Verlander and the Tigers. The total opened at 8 ‘under’ (minus 115).

Though the exhibition season doesn’t historically mean much when the regular campaign rolls around, it is interesting to note that the Tigers and Yanks met Tuesday in the last preseason game for both teams.

Both clubs played their regular’s for the first seven innings, with the Yanks registering a 2-1 victory as 140 home favorites.

That low-scoring affair could be a precursor to Thursday afternoon’s opener when Sabathia and Verlander hook up in what should be quite a pitching duel.

Sabathia, who has led the American League in wins the past two seasons, was 21-7 last year with a stellar 3.18 ERA. The 6-foot-7 southpaw fanned 197 batters and walked 74 in 237 2/3 innings.

Verlander, who had a marvelous exhibition season with a 0.67 ERA in four starts, was 18-9 with a 3.37 ERA during the 2010 campaign. The 28-year-old hard-throwing right-hander also registered 219 strikeouts and walked 71 in 224 1/3 innings.

These two hurlers met once last season (Aug. 17), with the Yankees recording a 6-2 victory as 175 home favorites. Though the combined eight runs barely skipped ‘over’ the 7½-run closing total, the ‘under’ is 8-3 in the last 11 series meetings between the Yanks and Tigers.

The win lifted the Yankees to a 27-10 ledger in the last 37 matchups against Detroit at Yankee Stadium. That includes taking three of the four home meetings last season and outscoring the Tigers 27-15 in the process.

Sabathia tossed seven innings in that Aug. 17 game against the Tigers and allowed two runs on seven hits while fanning nine and walking two. The two runs allowed were courtesy of solo homers by Austin Jackson and Brandon Inge.

Verlander was tagged for three runs on five hits, but lasted just five innings. He walked five and fanned five and allowed home runs to Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson.

Verlander may not have to worry about Granderson in Thursday’s opener. The former Tigers centerfielder is listed as “questionable” with a right oblique injury.

New York ranked 15th in the major’s with a 4.06 ERA and 21st with just 83 quality starts. The defense was a strong suit, as the club committed an American League-low 69 errors.

Offense shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Yanks. After all, they ranked first in that category last season by averaging 5.27 runs per game. New York ranked fifth with a .267 batting average and third in home runs (201).

Joe Girardi’s Yanks were 52-29 at home, 64-40 versus right-handed starters, 20-19 in one-run games and 7-7 in extra-inning affairs last season.

Detroit failed to adequately protect Miguel Cabrera in its lineup last season. However, the club addressed that problem by signing Victor Martinez as a free agent. The switch-hitting catcher hit .302 in 127 games with the Red Sox last season and added 20 homers and 79 RBI.

Ironically, Martinez was Sabathia’s catcher when they both toiled for the Cleveland Indians a few years ago.

Jim Leyland’s Tigers must improve on their dismal 29-52 road ledger if they are to be taken seriously in the AL Central. The club was 26-21 against southpaw starting hurlers, 16-26 in one-run games and 7-8 in extra innings.

The early weather forecast for Yankee Stadium calls for mostly cloudy skies and a 60 percent chance of showers. The wind will be out to right field between 12 and 17 MPH. The game-time temperature will be around 40 degrees.

This three-game series will continue Saturday afternoon with New York’s A.J. Burnett scheduled to face Detroit’s Brad Penny.