New York Yankees stay hot in Oakland in series mismatch against A’s
The Yankees have won 23 of their 30 games since the All-Star break and will add at least two more wins this week when they visit the Athletics in Oakland.
The only way this three-game series could be a bigger mismatch would be if the Yankees were catching the A’s once again on their home turf in New York instead of meeting them at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
With their pitching staff in total disarray right now, the Athletics have to take on the white-hot Yankees this week, facing New York’s two aces in the process. The series gets underway Monday when A.J. Burnett (16-7, 3.71) faces vs. Brett Tomko (0-0, 5.23), with Tomko making his debut for Oakland and his first start of the season after 15 relief appearances for the Pinstripes earlier this year.
Game 2 pits C.C. Sabathia (14-11, 3.64) against Vin Mazzaro (5-9, 5.54) with the A’s finally catching a break with a more even pitching matchup in the series finale on Wednesday when Chad Gaudin (7-12, 5.03) is slated for New York opposite Oakland’s Brett Anderson (10-12, 4.55).
The Yankees are 5-1 vs. A's this year, with all six games played in New York. Since the start of the '08 season, NY has a 10-2 edge against the Athletics, winning two of three played in Oakland last season.
New York is averaging over 5½ runs per game on the season while Oakland is almost full run lower, no doubt the two parks playing into this statistic. The Yankees lead the AL with 182 homers while the Athletics (98) and Royals (97) are the only two AL teams yet to have eclipsed the century mark in long balls. Again, the ballparks are part of that.
With the Yanks sporting a 23-7 record since the All-Star break, this is one time that gambling stats can truly illustrate how solid a team has been. Forget ERA, OPS and any other baseball statistic for a little bit and chew on these numbers:
At the same time it's very difficult to resist trying to add some value to a wager on a team that is just hotter than a $2 pistol.
There doesn’t appear to be any chance of a rainout in any of the games according to current forecasts, so that just leaves two reasons why New York won’t take two of three: An earthquake or the Yankees looking past this series to their meeting in Boston with the Red Sox this weekend. Put me down for one unit on the Yankees in the series at -225, another on the run line tonight and possibly a second RL wager in Tuesday’s contest.
The Yankees have won 23 of their 30 games since the All-Star break and will add at least two more wins this week when they visit the Athletics in Oakland.
The only way this three-game series could be a bigger mismatch would be if the Yankees were catching the A’s once again on their home turf in New York instead of meeting them at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
With their pitching staff in total disarray right now, the Athletics have to take on the white-hot Yankees this week, facing New York’s two aces in the process. The series gets underway Monday when A.J. Burnett (16-7, 3.71) faces vs. Brett Tomko (0-0, 5.23), with Tomko making his debut for Oakland and his first start of the season after 15 relief appearances for the Pinstripes earlier this year.
Game 2 pits C.C. Sabathia (14-11, 3.64) against Vin Mazzaro (5-9, 5.54) with the A’s finally catching a break with a more even pitching matchup in the series finale on Wednesday when Chad Gaudin (7-12, 5.03) is slated for New York opposite Oakland’s Brett Anderson (10-12, 4.55).
The Yankees are 5-1 vs. A's this year, with all six games played in New York. Since the start of the '08 season, NY has a 10-2 edge against the Athletics, winning two of three played in Oakland last season.
New York is averaging over 5½ runs per game on the season while Oakland is almost full run lower, no doubt the two parks playing into this statistic. The Yankees lead the AL with 182 homers while the Athletics (98) and Royals (97) are the only two AL teams yet to have eclipsed the century mark in long balls. Again, the ballparks are part of that.
With the Yanks sporting a 23-7 record since the All-Star break, this is one time that gambling stats can truly illustrate how solid a team has been. Forget ERA, OPS and any other baseball statistic for a little bit and chew on these numbers:
- Since the All-Star break, New York is 20-7 as a -110 favorite or higher.
- They have covered the -1½ run line 16 times in that span.
- The only three times they were not a -110 or higher favorite, they won all three games and covered the run line in each contest (July 29 at Tampa, 6-2 as +105 dogs; Aug 4 at Toronto, 5-3 as +136 dogs, and; Aug 5 at Toronto, 8-4 as a -105 pick 'em).
At the same time it's very difficult to resist trying to add some value to a wager on a team that is just hotter than a $2 pistol.
There doesn’t appear to be any chance of a rainout in any of the games according to current forecasts, so that just leaves two reasons why New York won’t take two of three: An earthquake or the Yankees looking past this series to their meeting in Boston with the Red Sox this weekend. Put me down for one unit on the Yankees in the series at -225, another on the run line tonight and possibly a second RL wager in Tuesday’s contest.