MLB Baseball
2011-04-23 - New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: MLB Baseball
Saturday 23 April 2011 - First Pitch 7:05pm ET
12:05am (British Standard Time)
Preview
This will only be the 3rd series on the road that the 'Evil Empire' will be playing this season and the Yankees (10-6) will still be looking for their first series road win. They should be confident they can get it against the struggling Baltimore Orioles (8-10).
The Yankees will be sending their ace to the mound- CC Sabathia has a 2.52 ERA this season but is still searching for his first win. He has already started 4 games this season and failure to pick up the win here would mean it is his longest drought to start the season since 2003.
However, he should be hoping that doesn't happen when looking at his career record against the Orioles. Sabathia is 14-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 20 starts against Baltimore and is 8-1 on the road from 10 starts.
New York have won 5 of their last 7 games after splitting a series in Toronto with a 6-2 win last time out. It is no suprise that this batting line up is firing, with Curtis Granderson the pick of the bunch, and they have scored 5 runs in 6 of their last 7 games.
Baltimore made a promising start to the season but have now lost 9 of their last 11 games. Their batting average is amongst the lowest in the American League and they have scored more than 5 runs on just 2 occasions.
Vladimir Guerrero and Matt Wieters are providing some punch in the line up but are getting too little support meaning the Orioles will have to rely on strong pitching to keep them in games against a team like the Yankees.
Brad Bergeson will be sent to the mound to counter Sabathia- Bergeson is 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA this season, but has struggled against the Yankees. He is 0-2 from 3 career starts against them and has a 6.60 ERA.
Head to Head
The Yankees are 15-4 in the last 19 meetings with Baltimore, including a 2 game sweep in the Bronx earlier this season.
The Orioles finished the season series 3-6 here last season against their American League East rivals.
New York are 9-1 against Baltimore in CC Sabathia's last 10 starts. They are 5-0 on the road.
Baltimore are 3-3 in Game 1's this season, but are 1-3 when coming into that game off the back of a loss.
New York are 2-3 in Game 1's, but have lost all 3 games when coming into it with a win behind them.
Other Interesting Notes
Baltimore have lost their last 5 games at home when they are the underdog.
They are 9-24 in their last 33 games as the underdog with Brad Bergeson as the starting pitcher.
New York are 42-13 in the last 55 games they have played with CC Sabathia as the favourite.
They are 20-7 in their last 27 games on the road with Sabathia as the favourite.
Prediction
Everything there is points to the New York Yankees winning this game and I have no reason to believe they won't. CC Sabathia has dominated games with Baltimore in recent series and the Yankees are hot enough with the bat to give him some run support.
Brad Bergeson does not seem the pitcher that will be able to compete in a pitching duel with Sabathia, something that needs to happen with the limited run support he is getting from the Baltimore batting line up.
I will be taking the Yankees to come through on the run line.
EDIT: The game on Friday night was postponed due to rain. HOWEVER, both starters are scheduled to take the mound tomorrow so I have changed the date on the preview while expecting the same result
The Pick :
Baltimore Orioles 2-6 New York Yankees
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back the New York Yankees - 1.5 @ 1.9 Bodog (2 UNITS)Follow me on Twitter- the direct link is below
