Oakland A's @ New York Yankees
United States: MLB Baseball
Tuesday 23 August 2011 - First Pitch 7:05pm ET
12:05am (British Standard Time)

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Preview

This is a crucial time for teams as some begin to separate from the pack and make their move to earn a place in the postseason. The New York Yankees (77-48) hold a 1 game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League East, but are very much in line for a Wild Card spot at the worst, while the Oakland A's (57-70) are pretty much out of contention in the American League West.

The Yankees are known for their powerful batting line up, one to fear for most teams in the Major League but one that typically takes it to Oakland when they play one another.

The likes of Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixiera, Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher have enjoyed plenty of success against Oakland in recent games and they will look to continue that in the opener of a 3 game series.

New York sends Bartolo Colon to the mound, and will be hoping he can bounce back after a disappointing effort last time out. Colon is 8-7 this season with a 3.54 ERA but he gave up 5 runs in just 5 innings last time out as the Yankees fell to the Kansas City Royals.

Colon had been 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in his 4 previous starts before that game with the Royals, and he he had given up 2 runs in each of those outings. The pitcher has beaten Oakland twice this season, including his first complete game since 2006 in a 5-0 win in Oakland.

The A's will know they will probably need to continue giving the run support to Brandon McCarthy that they have since the All-Star break if the pitcher is to improve on his 6-6 record this season.

McCarthy has a 3.74 ERA on the season, but has gone 5-1 with a 4.10 ERA since the All-Star break as he has been provided with an average of 7.34 runs per outing. He last pitched against the Yankees for the Texas Rangers in 2009- on that occasion he gave up 6 runs in 4 innings, but was not given the decision in an 8-6 loss.

The pitcher allowed 4 runs in 6 innings pitched in a win over Baltimore last time out, but did have to make a few adjustments after being hit on the knee in his previous start.

Head to Head

New York have dominated the Oakland A's in recent meetings, going 14-2 in the Bronx and winning 12 of the last 13 overall.

The Yankees are leading the season series 5-1 and they outscored the A's 27-16 in the last 3 games played here in New York.

New York are 20-20 in Game 1's this season, going 13-13 when coming in off a win.

Oakland are 14-27 in Game 1's, and they are 6-13 when they have lost their last game.

Prediction

The Yankees have dominated recent meetings against Oakland and the offense is putting up enough runs to secure some easy wins.

Oakland are very much going to have to try and keep up with New York and I think that will be their downfall here as I cannot imagine they can if recent batting performances are to be believed. Oakland have failed to score more than 2 runs in 3 of their last 4 games and that is not the kind of batting output that will get the job done in the Bronx.

Brandon McCarthy has not been in complete control of his own pitching of late and that could put Oakland in a bit of a hole that they won't be able to dig out of.

I'll back the Yankees on the run line to come through.

The Pick :

New York Yankees 7-4 Oakland A's

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back the New York Yankees - 1.5 Runs @ 2.00