New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles Preview
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD
When: Friday, April 7, 2017, 7:05 PM ET
Line: New York Yankees (-106) at Baltimore Orioles (-104); total: 8.5 – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: MLB Network, YES, MASN 2
Betting on the New York Yankees (1-2)
With a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, the New York Yankees begin their 2017 season with a division-series loss. The schedule didn’t do them any favors, as they’ll continue their opening-week festivities on the road with a three-game series against another AL East rival: the Baltimore Orioles.
Jacoby Ellsbury was the only New York player that scored for his team on Saturday by hitting a solo home run – his first of the young season. Ellsbury, who has a .412 batting average with one homer and three RBIs against Baltimore’s Ubaldo Jimenez up ahead, must provide the spark for his team once more if the Yankees are to get anywhere near their five-run outing in the win against the Rays on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, the Yanks will have Luis Severino (0-8, 8.50 ERA last season) as their starter for their series-opener against the Orioles. Judging from Severino’s record and ERA alone as stated here, it’s clear that he had a miserable 2016. And in the four times (two starts) that he’d faced the O’s last year, he gave up six earned runs in a total of just 12.2 innings.
We may have to wait for the Bronx Bombers to return back home for them to gain any sort of momentum, as they’ve gone a mere 3-6 at Baltimore last season. Unless some of the team’s younger stars like the diminutive Ronald Torreyes (two-run blast in Tuesday’s win) and fellow 24-year-olds Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird get something going, we’ll have to reserve our praises for this supposedly improved Yankees roster for another day.
Betting on the Baltimore Orioles (2-0)
The 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday keeps the Baltimore Orioles’ record spot-free for the time being.
The Orioles swept their brief two-game, odd-dated series against the Jays behind their usual brand of slugging expertise. Adam Jones hit a two-run dinger in the third inning of Wednesday’s contest to give his team the lead, while Chris Davis added a solo shot in the fourth for added insurance.
It was the 36th time that Jones and Davis have each hit a home run in a contest, which is the most by any pair of batters in the majors. Yet strangely enough, they’re a combined 0-for-13 with five strikeouts against New York’s Severino.
Still, Baltimore has shown more prowess at the plate despite their meager 3-run winning outputs versus Toronto in the first two games compared to the inconsistent Yankees. Plus, Ubaldo Jimenez (8-12, 5.44 ERA in 2016) has had a better campaign the last time out compared to the Yanks’ starter this Friday if we’re just talking about the previous season.
The O’s even have the benefit of starting their season with five-straight home games. Do note that they currently have a five-game win streak at Camden Yards going dating back to last season’s three-game series sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Writer’s Prediction
The Orioles (-104) stay hot, 4-2.
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