Yankees to Win Third Straight Against Struggling Orioles
Who: Baltimore Orioles v. New York Yankees
When: Saturday September 16th, 2017 4:05PM EST
Where: Yankee Stadium—New York, New York
The Yankees look to be guaranteed a spot in the post-season now that we are midway through the final month of the season. Heading into September, whether or not the Yankees would be able to stake their claim in the playoffs was something that basically everyone had questioned. Now, the Yankees are a massive 4 games ahead of the nearest Wild Card competitor, and the way they have been playing suggests that that 4-game lead will not be relinquished.
What New York has been doing in recent games that they did not do throughout the whole of August has been score runs. No matter what time of year you are looking at, the Yankees’ pitching staff has performed well time and time again. In recent weeks, it was the offensive play of players like Aaron Judge that was being scrutinized. After all, Judge complemented an impressive first half of the season by absolutely falling apart through most of the second half. That much seems to have changed, and so too have the Yankees’ post-season chances.
As for Baltimore, a run towards the end of August was not enough for them to overcome the playoff hump. For a while there, the Orioles were between 2 and 4 games back of a Wild Card position, and there was some hope in central Maryland. Now, the Orioles have lost 8 of their last 9 and are going to be excluded from this year’s playoffs. They are no 5.5 games back of a Wild Card spot, and it does not seem as though that gap is going to be closed at any point in the near future. Crazier things have happened, but the Orioles are simply not strong enough to make the leap.
Game Overview and Analysis
Starting on the mound for the visiting Orioles (+163) will be Jeremy Hellickson (8-9 5.23 ERA). Hellickson has had a decent year thus far, but in recent weeks has struggled mightily. In his last 3 outings, Hellickson has gone 0-2 and has given up a fair amount of runs along the way. In fact, in one of those two losses, Hellickson conceded 7 earned runs in just over 4 innings pitched. Only 10 days ago, Hellickson faced this same New York team and did not fare all that well. The game ended up being a no-decision for the pitcher, but in only 2 innings of work he gave up 3 earned runs. It seems as though the Yankees really have his number, and I would not be surprised to see him get hit around once again.
So far this series, the Orioles’ offense has not been able to muster much of anything against this Yankee pitching staff. Last night, for example, the Yankees pounded home a solid 8 runs while the O’s could manage just 2. The night before, the Orioles scored 5 but ended up giving up a whopping 13. If Hellickson cannot have any amount of success, it might be another long night and a 3rd straight loss at the hands of New York.
As for the Yankees (-173), they will be starting Jordan Montgomery (7-7 4.24 ERA). Montgomery’s last few outings have been intriguing primarily because he seems to pitch no-decision outings more than anyone else in baseball. Of his last 10 starts, a massive 6 of them have ended up being no-decisions for Montgomery. He has kept his earned runs tally somewhat low, so the story is more positive than anything else. In fact, Montgomery’s run of no-decisions seems to have coincided perfectly with the Yankees’ month of August, during which their offense found it nearly impossible to score runs.
As for the offense of New York, if they can do what they have already done through two games in this series, I do not think they will have much troubles handing Baltimore its 9th loss in 10 games. Aaron Judge is back to hitting the ball, and it seems as though everyone in the Yankees’ lineup is a legitimate threat to get on base. If that can continue this evening, the Yankees will move one step closer to completing the sweep with ease.
Betting Prediction
As far as a moneyline bet is concerned, I think it is difficult to reason a bet on anyone other than the Yankees. The Orioles have been outscored by 21-7 through 2 games, and the Orioles have looked poor. What’s more, the Yankees are beginning to build momentum while the Orioles are doing, literally, anything but that. I think the Yankees are the team to take.
The point spread sees the Yankees listed as -1.5 run favorites (+110). I really like this bet because of the +110 odds as offered by BetOnline. The fact of the matter is that the Yankees have now covered this same exact spread in both games versus Baltimore, and I see no reason to think that anything will change tonight.