Yankees Heavily Favored to Take Game 2 From Detroit
Who: Detroit Tigers v. New York Yankees
When: Tuesday August 1st, 2017 7:05PM EST
Where: Yankee Stadium—New York, New York
The Yankees are, right now, one of the hottest teams in baseball. They have been rolling since after the All-Star Break and after some recent acquisitions seem even more poised to make a run at the post-season from the crowded AL East. Having acquired both Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia via deadline day trades, the Yankees only weak spot—their bullpen—seems to have gotten just the boost it needs. The upbeat play on the part of the Yankees continued as they opened their series with the Tigers on Monday, as they won by a final score of 7-3.
Since the All-Star Break, in fact, the Yankees have amassed a 12-6 record, including a 7-1 record over their past 8 games. For them, it is a combination of strong hitting and solid pitching that has seen this streak come to fruition. Over their last 8 games, the Yankees have scored at least 5 runs in all but 2. Any time you can score with that type of consistency, you are going to be tough to defeat.
While the Yankees season seems to be getting increasingly optimistic with each passing day, the same cannot be said for the Tigers. Barring a miracle, the team from Detroit are not going to make a run at the post-season. After all, they currently sit 10 games off the pace in the AL Central and have not been playing very good ball recently. In their past 12 games, the Tigers have gone 4-8. To add insult to injury, they also dealt pitcher Justin Wilson and catcher Alex Avila to the Cubs just prior to the July 31st trade deadline.
All things considered, the Tigers are already setting their sights on the 2018 season, and this showed quite clearly in their series opening loss on Monday night.
Game Overview and Analysis
When the Yankees (-183) take the field Tuesday night, they will do as heavy favorites for a second night in a row. This time, they will be sending ace CC Sabathia (9-3 3.66 ERA) to the mound. After some struggles earlier in the season, CC has really turned it on for the Yankees. To aptly explain just how well CC has been performing, you need not look any further than his last 10 starts. During this stint, Sabathia has won 7, lost 1, and earned 2 no-decisions (1 of which was a win for the Yankees). After all that CC has gone through in recent years, it seems as though he has finally and once again staked his claim as being one of MLB’s best starting pitchers. It is difficult to envision a scenario where he does not keep this streak going, seeing as the Tigers are not exactly a formidable offensive side. If he can keep doing what he did through the months of June and July, he will have no issues earning his 10th win.
As for the Yankees’ offense, so long as they keep doing what they have been over the past few weeks, there will be no worries. There are many reasons why the Yankees are continually able to hold off the red-hot Red Sox, but one of the major reasons is their offense.
For Detroit (+158), we will see Anibal Sanchez (2-1 6.18 ERA) lay claim to the starting role. Sanchez, who was recently moved to the starting rotation from his previous role as a closer, has not exactly lit things up in his first few starts. His most recent outing in particular, against the Royals last week, was one he will like to quickly forget. In just over 3 innings pitched, Sanchez gave up 9 hits and 4 earned runs before being pulled. While there is definitely a learning curve you have to overcome when assuming the starting role in MLB, the Yankees are not the team you want to be facing while in the midst of that learning curve.
Betting Prediction
As for who to bet on in this one, the moneyline wager has to be on the Yankees (-183). The -183 odds are not very good, but this matchup on paper is a heavily one-sided one. The Yankees have the better offense, the better starting pitcher by a mile, and are in overall better form. This is one wager I would not be hesitant about betting somewhat heavily.
At the moment, Bovada has the over/under listed at 9.5 runs (-125/-105). Though the Yankees offense is doing well, I like the under (-105) in this one because I think Sabathia will wholly shut down the Tigers’ offense. CC does not give up many runs, and against an offense as mediocre as the Tigers’ I feel as though that will ring true.
Finally, the Yankees are listed on the point spread as -1.5 run (-105) favorites. Seeing as they took care of the Tigers by 4 runs on Monday, there is no reason in my mind why they cannot do it again tonight.