MLB Odds: Pettitte and Yanks Take on Phillies in Series Finale
The pitching duel on Tuesday never happened and Wednesday saw the underdog pitcher shine instead of the favorite. What's in store for the Phils and Yanks tonight?
In the grand scheme of things, tonight's baseball game in the Bronx means very little. A loss won't eliminate either New York or Philadelphia from baseball's postseason, and a win won't add any hardware to the trophy case up in the front office.
Still, it is the rubber game of a series and both the Yanks and Phils are in division races that could last all summer.
Thursday's tilt finds the baseball odds listing the Yankees 190-200 favorites behind the left arm of veteran Andy Pettitte (10-2, 2.46). That number is up to at least 200 after overnight betting. Philadelphia counters with Kyle Kendrick (6-6, 4.80), with the total listed at 10 and slightly favoring the 'under.'
Game 1's pitching battle between C.C. Sabathia and Roy Halladay never materialized on Tuesday. A couple of early New York homers, and three total off Halladay, propelled the Yanks to the 8-3 win as slight 115 favorites. The final tally marked the fifth straight 'over' between the two clubs after five consecutive 'unders,' a string that started in May 2009 and ran through Game 2 of the Series.
Wednesday saw the Phillies even the series with a 6-3 win as 185 underdogs. Jamie Moyer's ageless left arm and some early offense did the trick for Philadelphia.
Kendrick will be making his first start since June 8 and his first appearance ever against the Yankees. The right-hander's most recent trip to the mound was from the pen on June 11 to mop up a 12-2 whipping the Phils took in Boston.
The Houston native has decent road numbers this year with a 3.55 ERA in six starts and the relief outing. The Phillies are 2-4 in the six starts, and that includes two losses in Atlanta in which Kendrick worked a total of 15 innings and allowed just one earned run.
The only New York batter with experience facing Kendrick is Mark Teixeira from his brief time in Atlanta. Kendrick has the upper hand in those matchups, limiting Teixeira to one hit in 12 at bats, with the lone hit a home run.
Often mistaken for being a Houston native, Pettitte is having one of his finest seasons over what was already a damn fine 16-year career. The southpaw turned 38 on Tuesday and has been especially tough at home in 2010 with a 2.84 ERA and New York 7-1 in his eight Bronx assignments.
Pettitte faced the Phillies three times in 2009, and the Yanks won all three. That includes Games 3 and 6 of the World Series. However, New York didn't win any of those games because Pettitte was shutting down the Phils. In 18 2/3 innings, he allowed 11 runs and five bleacher souvenirs.
His prior experience against Philly came while pitching for the Astros. Houston won the three starts he made against the Phillies, with Pettitte posting a tiny 0.94 ERA.
All signs point to a nice evening in the Bronx, though it could be a bit breezy. Clear skies and a starting temperature around 70ºF are forecast. Winds are listed from the NNW at 12-18 mph (LF line behind 3B out to RF corner).
Tom Hallion, a 20-year veteran umpire who hails from Saugerties, NY, will have plate duty for this series finale. He worked the April 30 game in Philly that Kendrick pitched, a 9-1 Mets thrashing of the Phils who were 140 favorites. He also worked a Yankees road game in Oakland about 10 days before that, with Phil Hughes and New York taking a 3-1 win over the A's as 140 chalk.
Joe Girardi's guys will remain put for the weekend with the Mets in for three at Yankee Stadium. Sunday's pitching matchup should be a good one with Sabathia (8-6, 4.00) facing Johan Santana (7-7, 3.13).
Charlie Manuel's outfit heads home to greet the Twins for a weekend interleague set before hosting the Indians to begin next week.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
The pitching duel on Tuesday never happened and Wednesday saw the underdog pitcher shine instead of the favorite. What's in store for the Phils and Yanks tonight?
In the grand scheme of things, tonight's baseball game in the Bronx means very little. A loss won't eliminate either New York or Philadelphia from baseball's postseason, and a win won't add any hardware to the trophy case up in the front office.
Still, it is the rubber game of a series and both the Yanks and Phils are in division races that could last all summer.
Thursday's tilt finds the baseball odds listing the Yankees 190-200 favorites behind the left arm of veteran Andy Pettitte (10-2, 2.46). That number is up to at least 200 after overnight betting. Philadelphia counters with Kyle Kendrick (6-6, 4.80), with the total listed at 10 and slightly favoring the 'under.'
Game 1's pitching battle between C.C. Sabathia and Roy Halladay never materialized on Tuesday. A couple of early New York homers, and three total off Halladay, propelled the Yanks to the 8-3 win as slight 115 favorites. The final tally marked the fifth straight 'over' between the two clubs after five consecutive 'unders,' a string that started in May 2009 and ran through Game 2 of the Series.
Wednesday saw the Phillies even the series with a 6-3 win as 185 underdogs. Jamie Moyer's ageless left arm and some early offense did the trick for Philadelphia.
Kendrick will be making his first start since June 8 and his first appearance ever against the Yankees. The right-hander's most recent trip to the mound was from the pen on June 11 to mop up a 12-2 whipping the Phils took in Boston.
The Houston native has decent road numbers this year with a 3.55 ERA in six starts and the relief outing. The Phillies are 2-4 in the six starts, and that includes two losses in Atlanta in which Kendrick worked a total of 15 innings and allowed just one earned run.
The only New York batter with experience facing Kendrick is Mark Teixeira from his brief time in Atlanta. Kendrick has the upper hand in those matchups, limiting Teixeira to one hit in 12 at bats, with the lone hit a home run.
Often mistaken for being a Houston native, Pettitte is having one of his finest seasons over what was already a damn fine 16-year career. The southpaw turned 38 on Tuesday and has been especially tough at home in 2010 with a 2.84 ERA and New York 7-1 in his eight Bronx assignments.
Pettitte faced the Phillies three times in 2009, and the Yanks won all three. That includes Games 3 and 6 of the World Series. However, New York didn't win any of those games because Pettitte was shutting down the Phils. In 18 2/3 innings, he allowed 11 runs and five bleacher souvenirs.
His prior experience against Philly came while pitching for the Astros. Houston won the three starts he made against the Phillies, with Pettitte posting a tiny 0.94 ERA.
All signs point to a nice evening in the Bronx, though it could be a bit breezy. Clear skies and a starting temperature around 70ºF are forecast. Winds are listed from the NNW at 12-18 mph (LF line behind 3B out to RF corner).
Tom Hallion, a 20-year veteran umpire who hails from Saugerties, NY, will have plate duty for this series finale. He worked the April 30 game in Philly that Kendrick pitched, a 9-1 Mets thrashing of the Phils who were 140 favorites. He also worked a Yankees road game in Oakland about 10 days before that, with Phil Hughes and New York taking a 3-1 win over the A's as 140 chalk.
Joe Girardi's guys will remain put for the weekend with the Mets in for three at Yankee Stadium. Sunday's pitching matchup should be a good one with Sabathia (8-6, 4.00) facing Johan Santana (7-7, 3.13).
Charlie Manuel's outfit heads home to greet the Twins for a weekend interleague set before hosting the Indians to begin next week.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!