Joe Girardi said earlier in the week that a day off was just what the doctor ordered for the New York Yankees (22-19 SU, +2.54) after playing 30 games in 31 days. Apparently he was wrong. The Bronx Bombers were beaten in both games they played against the Nationals, and they'll look to finally reverse their misfortunes on Monday against the Kansas City Royals (26-14 SU, +11.56 Units).
PITCHING MATCHUP
Yordano Ventura is coming off of one of the best starts of his career when he whiffed six men and allowed just four hits in seven shutout innings against the Reds on Tuesday. He'll have five straight days off before this one, which should help keep him on track.
We're a little concerned about Ventura pitching in Yankee Stadium in this one. His splits on the road haven't been stellar in his short career. He has allowed 15 home runs in just 128.1 innings (against eight homers allowed in 117.1 innings at Kauffman Stadium), and his WHIP balloons from 1.18 at home to 1.39 on the road.
The short porch in right field could be very inviting for some of the Yankee hitters, which could lead to some crooked numbers getting onto the scoreboard. New York enters the weekend fifth in the bigs in dingers this year, something to definitely keep in mind in live betting.
Nathan Eovaldi is just 1-3 on the season, and we question whether he belongs in a big league rotation at this point in his career.
Once Eovaldi gets past 75 pitches, be ready to fire away in live betting on the Royals. The righty has allowed men to bat .450 against him after reaching the 76-pitch mark this season, which is just far too high of a number. These Kansas City hitters should be salivating at the idea of going against Eovaldi late in this game.
ADVANCED STATS
Over the course of the last week or so, the New York offense has been brutally bad. During this 1-7 streak, the Yanks have averaged just 2.38 runs per game.
However, at some point, luck will be back on the team's side. A strikeout rate of 17.1 percent isn't all that high for such a struggling team, and a .217 team BABIP in that stretch suggests that better times could be ahead.
Keep a close eye on the contact rate the New York batters are making early on in this game. Especially if the team is struggling to get the ball in the right places for hits yet not striking out, the percentages in live betting will almost certainly on the Yankees' side. No team can have a BABIP of .217 for very long.
TALKING BULLPENS
In this game, you've got four of the best relief pitchers in baseball. If this game gets to the eighth inning and matters are close, you can count on four consecutive zeroes hitting the board to keep the game under the total.
Heading into play on Friday night, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller have combined to allow just two runs over 41.1 innings for the Yankees, and they have 66 strikeouts between them.
For Kansas City, Wade Davis and Greg Holland have just one run allowed in 29.0 innings of work.
Both duos have 14 saves against just one blown save, and in each instance, the game which was blown ended up being won the very next inning.
The baseball betting odds for this game will first be available at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers and adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in, and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees will start at 1:05 p.m. ET on Monday, May 25, 2015 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY. The matchup will be televised nationally on ESPN.
