King Felix and Mariners Open Series at Yankees
The league's worst offense battles the league's top-scoring club in the opener of a three-game set in the Bronx Friday evening when the Yankees take on the Seattle Mariners.
This is one of those games that can drive you nuts. On one hand you've got arguably the worst offense in baseball in the Seattle Mariners. Their opponents, the New York Yankees, are the top-scoring team in the majors. So it's a no-brainer for the group clad in pinstripes, right?
Not so fast there, pardner. The matchup on the mound is greatly in favor of the M's who will send Felix Hernandez (11-15, 2.62) to the Yankee Stadium hill. New York counters with A.J. Burnett (11-13, 4.66) who has been very inconsistent this season with the Yanks falling short in his last three starts to the tune of five units of red ink for MLB bettors.
Early lines came out with the Yankees in the minus 135-140 range. BetJamaica had the total at eight with the 'over/under' evenly priced.
New York broke a 2-2 tie with a nine-run sixth against the Tigers on Thursday, taking an eventual 11-5 win as big 230 chalk. The triumph was the Yankees' third straight after splitting six games on the road in Texas and Kansas City last week and opening the Detroit series with a loss.
Seattle comes into the series with a modest two-game win streak and 4-2 on its current road trip. However, those four wins came in Cleveland and Baltimore; facing the Yanks and BoSox the next six days will be entirely different.
The good news is the Mariners will have Hernandez for two of the six games in the Bronx and Beantown. He's not only proven he can beat the Yankees this season, doing so twice in a span of 10 days leading into the All-Star break, Hernandez has proven he can beat them in their own park.
Both of his previous starts came opposite Javier Vazquez on June 30 and July 10. The June contest was in the Bronx with Hernandez going the distance in the seven-zip victory with a complete game two-hitter, striking out 11 as a 145 underdog. The MLB odds were a little tighter 10 days later in Seattle when he once again went nine full frames, allowing a Nick Swisher homer for New York's only run in a 4-1 win.
Seattle is now 4-3 in Hernandez' seven career starts dating to his 2005 rookie campaign.
Burnett got chased from the Yankee Stadium mound the last time he pitched in front of the home crowd, surrendering eight runs to the Blue Jays on Aug. 2 and failing to get out of the fifth inning. The Yankees were laying a minus 185 money line in that one, and fell 8-6. Overall at home this season, New York is 5-5 in Burnett's 10 starting assignments with Yankees backers off $3.25 in those games.
He missed Seattle the previous two series between the clubs, and only saw them once in 2009. Coincidentally, that start came against Hernandez in Seattle on Sept. 18. Burnett left the game with a 2-1 lead before a rare Mariano Rivera blown save cost New York and Burnett the win in a 3-2 Mariners triumph. Ichiro Suzuki's two-run blast off Rivera did the trick to cash for Seattle backers as very small minus 102 underdogs.
Bronx weather should be mighty fine Friday evening. Forecasters are calling for clear skies to begin the game with a first-pitch thermometer reading in the upper-70s, perhaps 80ºF on the dot. Winds are currently listed out of the NNE at 5-10 mph (in from far left field towards first base bag).
The series continues with afternoon affairs Saturday and Sunday, both starting at 1:05 p.m. ET. Southpaws Jason Vargas (12-11, 3.15) and Luke French (2-3, 4.05) are listed those days for Seattle with New York's rotation sending Javier Vazquez (11-11, 4.89) and C.C. Sabathia (18-8, 3.12) out to the mound.
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.
The league's worst offense battles the league's top-scoring club in the opener of a three-game set in the Bronx Friday evening when the Yankees take on the Seattle Mariners.
This is one of those games that can drive you nuts. On one hand you've got arguably the worst offense in baseball in the Seattle Mariners. Their opponents, the New York Yankees, are the top-scoring team in the majors. So it's a no-brainer for the group clad in pinstripes, right?
Not so fast there, pardner. The matchup on the mound is greatly in favor of the M's who will send Felix Hernandez (11-15, 2.62) to the Yankee Stadium hill. New York counters with A.J. Burnett (11-13, 4.66) who has been very inconsistent this season with the Yanks falling short in his last three starts to the tune of five units of red ink for MLB bettors.
Early lines came out with the Yankees in the minus 135-140 range. BetJamaica had the total at eight with the 'over/under' evenly priced.
New York broke a 2-2 tie with a nine-run sixth against the Tigers on Thursday, taking an eventual 11-5 win as big 230 chalk. The triumph was the Yankees' third straight after splitting six games on the road in Texas and Kansas City last week and opening the Detroit series with a loss.
Seattle comes into the series with a modest two-game win streak and 4-2 on its current road trip. However, those four wins came in Cleveland and Baltimore; facing the Yanks and BoSox the next six days will be entirely different.
The good news is the Mariners will have Hernandez for two of the six games in the Bronx and Beantown. He's not only proven he can beat the Yankees this season, doing so twice in a span of 10 days leading into the All-Star break, Hernandez has proven he can beat them in their own park.
Both of his previous starts came opposite Javier Vazquez on June 30 and July 10. The June contest was in the Bronx with Hernandez going the distance in the seven-zip victory with a complete game two-hitter, striking out 11 as a 145 underdog. The MLB odds were a little tighter 10 days later in Seattle when he once again went nine full frames, allowing a Nick Swisher homer for New York's only run in a 4-1 win.
Seattle is now 4-3 in Hernandez' seven career starts dating to his 2005 rookie campaign.
Burnett got chased from the Yankee Stadium mound the last time he pitched in front of the home crowd, surrendering eight runs to the Blue Jays on Aug. 2 and failing to get out of the fifth inning. The Yankees were laying a minus 185 money line in that one, and fell 8-6. Overall at home this season, New York is 5-5 in Burnett's 10 starting assignments with Yankees backers off $3.25 in those games.
He missed Seattle the previous two series between the clubs, and only saw them once in 2009. Coincidentally, that start came against Hernandez in Seattle on Sept. 18. Burnett left the game with a 2-1 lead before a rare Mariano Rivera blown save cost New York and Burnett the win in a 3-2 Mariners triumph. Ichiro Suzuki's two-run blast off Rivera did the trick to cash for Seattle backers as very small minus 102 underdogs.
Bronx weather should be mighty fine Friday evening. Forecasters are calling for clear skies to begin the game with a first-pitch thermometer reading in the upper-70s, perhaps 80ºF on the dot. Winds are currently listed out of the NNE at 5-10 mph (in from far left field towards first base bag).
The series continues with afternoon affairs Saturday and Sunday, both starting at 1:05 p.m. ET. Southpaws Jason Vargas (12-11, 3.15) and Luke French (2-3, 4.05) are listed those days for Seattle with New York's rotation sending Javier Vazquez (11-11, 4.89) and C.C. Sabathia (18-8, 3.12) out to the mound.
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.