Angels leave New York down 0-2 to the Yankees
Veteran lefthander Andy Pettitte gets the ball for Game 3 of the ALCS hoping to pitch the Yankees into a 3-0 stranglehold on the series opposite young Jered Weaver and the Angels.
The good news for the Angels is they won't have to deal with the nasty weather that plagued Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS in New York. The bad news is they still have to deal with the Yankees who are up 2-0 in the ALCS and on a five-game postseason win streak.
The ALCS continues Monday afternoon when the Halos and Yanks battle at the Big A in Anaheim. The Angels opened as -125 favorites with Jered Weaver taking to the mound for them against New York's Andy Pettitte. The moneyline price has risen to -130, with the total holding at 9 for Game 3.
On the surface it would seem an easy choice to make taking the Yankees at plus money. At least it seems easy to me. New York is on a roll, not necessarily crushing the Twins and Angels in their five playoff wins so far, but rolling nonetheless. Alex Rodriguez is in a groove, following up on his 30-HR, 100 RBI season that got started a month late with three more postseason homers and at least one run driven home in each of the playoff games.
New York is taking advantage of every break the Twins, Angels and umpires have given them, and they definitely have experience on their side in this pitching matchup. Weaver, who recently turned 27, will be appearing in just his fourth postseason game and making his third playoff start while the 37-year old Pettitte will be making his 37th postseason trip to the mound, all starting assignments.
But then, Pettitte really hasn't fared too well against the Angels the past few seasons. In his last eight starts vs. the Halos, the southpaw owns a hefty 8.92 ERA with the Yankees 3-5 in those games. Three of those games were this year, with New York 1-2 and Pettitte allowing 16 earnies in 15.2 innings.
Two of those three starts were against Weaver, as a matter of fact. Each team won at home in the Pettitte-Weaver contests. LA was 1-2 in Weaver's three starts vs. New York, with the righthander charged with 12 earned runs in 19.1 IP. In his last seven starts against New York, Weaver has a 5.87 ERA with the Angels posting a 4-3 record.
The Angels did win four of the six games they played in Anaheim against the Yankees during the regular season, and the idea that they will get back on course and get back in this series on their home field is a good one. But I can't pass up the Yankees on an underdog price right now, don't care how square that makes me. I'll be splitting a unit on New York (+120) and the Over 9.
STARTING PITCHERS
ALCS Game 3, Mon, Oct 19, 4:13 p.m. (ET): Andy Pettitte (21-11, 4.16 regular season; 1-0, 1.42 postseason) vs. Jered Weaver (21-12, 3.75 regular season; 1-0, 1.23 postseason)
UMPIRE
California native Bill Miller has the plate for this one after a regular season that saw him post a 16-19 Home Visitor record and very heavy tendency to cash Under tickets with his totals coming out 10-23-2 O/U.
This is his fifth postseason series, with all four previous appearances coming in the LDS rounds. His last playoff game behind the plate was coincidentally right here in Anaheim when Miller worked Game 2 of the ALDS between the Angels and Red Sox. That game went to Boston 7-5 thanks to a J.D. Drew two-run homer off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth to break the five-all tie.
WEATHER
A cloudy, foggy morning in the Anaheim area is supposed to give way to a partly cloudy afternoon. Should see the thermometer sitting on about 72ºF when the game gets started with winds out of the SW at 5-10 MPH (blowing out to straightaway center).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
Veteran lefthander Andy Pettitte gets the ball for Game 3 of the ALCS hoping to pitch the Yankees into a 3-0 stranglehold on the series opposite young Jered Weaver and the Angels.
The good news for the Angels is they won't have to deal with the nasty weather that plagued Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS in New York. The bad news is they still have to deal with the Yankees who are up 2-0 in the ALCS and on a five-game postseason win streak.
The ALCS continues Monday afternoon when the Halos and Yanks battle at the Big A in Anaheim. The Angels opened as -125 favorites with Jered Weaver taking to the mound for them against New York's Andy Pettitte. The moneyline price has risen to -130, with the total holding at 9 for Game 3.
On the surface it would seem an easy choice to make taking the Yankees at plus money. At least it seems easy to me. New York is on a roll, not necessarily crushing the Twins and Angels in their five playoff wins so far, but rolling nonetheless. Alex Rodriguez is in a groove, following up on his 30-HR, 100 RBI season that got started a month late with three more postseason homers and at least one run driven home in each of the playoff games.
New York is taking advantage of every break the Twins, Angels and umpires have given them, and they definitely have experience on their side in this pitching matchup. Weaver, who recently turned 27, will be appearing in just his fourth postseason game and making his third playoff start while the 37-year old Pettitte will be making his 37th postseason trip to the mound, all starting assignments.
But then, Pettitte really hasn't fared too well against the Angels the past few seasons. In his last eight starts vs. the Halos, the southpaw owns a hefty 8.92 ERA with the Yankees 3-5 in those games. Three of those games were this year, with New York 1-2 and Pettitte allowing 16 earnies in 15.2 innings.
Two of those three starts were against Weaver, as a matter of fact. Each team won at home in the Pettitte-Weaver contests. LA was 1-2 in Weaver's three starts vs. New York, with the righthander charged with 12 earned runs in 19.1 IP. In his last seven starts against New York, Weaver has a 5.87 ERA with the Angels posting a 4-3 record.
The Angels did win four of the six games they played in Anaheim against the Yankees during the regular season, and the idea that they will get back on course and get back in this series on their home field is a good one. But I can't pass up the Yankees on an underdog price right now, don't care how square that makes me. I'll be splitting a unit on New York (+120) and the Over 9.
STARTING PITCHERS
ALCS Game 3, Mon, Oct 19, 4:13 p.m. (ET): Andy Pettitte (21-11, 4.16 regular season; 1-0, 1.42 postseason) vs. Jered Weaver (21-12, 3.75 regular season; 1-0, 1.23 postseason)
UMPIRE
California native Bill Miller has the plate for this one after a regular season that saw him post a 16-19 Home Visitor record and very heavy tendency to cash Under tickets with his totals coming out 10-23-2 O/U.
This is his fifth postseason series, with all four previous appearances coming in the LDS rounds. His last playoff game behind the plate was coincidentally right here in Anaheim when Miller worked Game 2 of the ALDS between the Angels and Red Sox. That game went to Boston 7-5 thanks to a J.D. Drew two-run homer off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth to break the five-all tie.
WEATHER
A cloudy, foggy morning in the Anaheim area is supposed to give way to a partly cloudy afternoon. Should see the thermometer sitting on about 72ºF when the game gets started with winds out of the SW at 5-10 MPH (blowing out to straightaway center).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
