The New York Yankees (33-26, $439) currently sit atop the AL East with the Baltimore Orioles (28-30, -$198) among the teams chasing them down.
The O’s will look to gain a game in this pivotal middle game of three.
ODDS ANALYSIS
New York has taken four of the first seven against Baltimore this season, including three of four in their last series back in the beginning of May. Of course, that series was in the Bronx while the O’s took two of three the last time they hosted the Yankees.
Overall, the Orioles have been consistently inconsistent this year with their offense being a key reason for their struggles. Despite that, they are 19-13 at home while the Yankees are 17-15 on the road.
Baltimore is also on a roll right now. Heading into Thursday, they’ve won three straight and five of their last six after snapping a five game losing streak. New York, on the other hand, had won seven straight before falling to the Washington Nationals in extra innings on Wednesday.
PITCHING MATCHUP
C.C. Sabathia gets the start for the Yankees on Saturday, following Michael Pineda to the mound as he opens the series.
Pineda dominated the O’s the last time he faced them, striking out 16 in seven innings. Sabathia, meanwhile, was not so lucky, allowing four runs in seven innings.
In his career against Baltimore he is 18-7 with a 3.40 ERA and 1.146 WHIP in 217 1/3 innings. While he’s proven time and time again to have the Orioles’ number, this is a different Sabathia who no longer has his dominating stuff.
On the year, the 34-year old southpaw is just 3-7 with a 5.25 ERA and 1.431 WHIP in 72 innings of work, and has not posted an ERA below 4.78 since his 3.38 mark in 2012.
While the Orioles have not formally announced the starters for the Yankee series, Saturday is Bud Norris’s spot in the rotation.
Norris has had a poor start to his year with a 8.63 ERA and 2-4 record in seven starts. He, however, spent much of the last month on the disabled list and returned to solid results on June 7 against the Indians, allowing just one run in five innings of work. The O’s will hope he can go deeper into the game on Saturday.
QUOTE TO NOTE
For the Orioles, one thing that has been going right for them during their reason positive swing is their defense. After Wednesday’s win over Boston, Orioles manager Buck Showalter had this to say about his solid pitching and defense:
“It’s something we weren’t consistent with and we have been lately. That’s where a lot of confidences [comes from].”
LIVE/SITUATIONAL BETTING
Baltimore has only scored 236 runs this year, ranking them 20th out of the 30 Major League teams.
Over the last few years, the Orioles were an offensive powerhouse thanks to their power. Baltimore is still in the top third in the league in home runs with 62, but is no longer the best of the best in that category. Meanwhile, they’re only getting on base at a .307 clip.
Still, there is reason for optimism for this Orioles offense. They’ve scored at least five in two of their last three games and have catcher Matt Wieters back in the fold following Tommy John surgery.
In four games since rejoining the team, Wieters has provided a spark with six hits, including a home run, and three RBIs. The team has also promoted Nolan Reimold who was red hot in Triple-A to add to the slumping offense that still includes solid players like Adam Jones (.842 OPS), Manny Machado (.779 OPS) and Chris Davis (.774 OPS) among others like J.J. Hardy (.516 OPS) and Steve Pearce (.634 OPS) both of whom are slumping.
In New York, the offense has been quite good, ranking second in all of baseball. The team has gotten a lot more than they expected from Mark Teixeira (.928 OPS and 17 home runs) and Alex Rodriguez (.878 OPS and 11 home runs) while Brian McCann (.804 OPS) is having a bounce back year.
Early on, the tandem of Jacoby Ellsbury (.412 OBP) and Brett Gardner (.352 OBP) atop the order was crucial as they set the table for the sluggers in the middle. Ellsbury is on the disabled list, but the Yankees have managed without him, leaning even heavier on Gardner to compliment the team’s power by getting on base.
PROP TALK
When the Orioles play, Jones is always the guy you watch and bet on to produce, but that is—of course—the case against on Saturday.
Jones has had a solid season to date despite a slow month of May. That said, he has been at his best this year against lefties like Sabathia, hitting .351 with a .972 OPS. In his career against the Yankees’ veteran, he’s 18 for 58 with four home runs, nine extra base hits and 14 RBIs.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
A couple struggling pitchers could make this one a high scoring game and if we are leaning on offenses, the Yankees have proven to have the better one this year. That said, look for Norris to put together an outing more indicative of his 2014 stats than the ones he put up this year as his early season numbers look to show a pitcher who was injured.
With the O’s bats seemingly heating up, an improved Norris should be enough to skew this one back in Baltimore’s favor. If not, the loss of Andrew Miller for the Yankees just might be. The back end of the pen has been a strength and now with Dellin Betances (0.28 ERA) sliding to the closer spot, the Orioles seem to have more depth in the pen with Zach Britton (1.82 ERA), Darren O’Day (1.17 ERA) along with a surprisingly hot start from Chaz Roe (0.75 ERA in 12 innings).
Baltimore 6, New York 5
The MLB odds for this game will be available first at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this nationally-televised baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers an adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! First pitch for the game between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles is scheduled for Saturday, June 13, 2015, at 7:15 p.m. ET at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The matchup will be televised regionally on FOX.
