MLB Baseball
2009-07-28 - New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays
A Sports Betting Pick by BetOnline
Baseball: United States, MLB
Tuesday, 28th July 2009 – 7:08 p.m. ET
MLB Betting – Kazmir hopes to cool off Yankees
MLB betting fans may find it hard to believe, but the Boston Red Sox may not be the Yankees’ top competition in the AL East right now.
The Rays are playing better baseball and have a major opportunity to gain ground on the division leaders in a crucial series with New York this week. Who will win Tuesday’s matchup, which pits two power lefthanders against each other?
New York Yankees (60-38 overall – 25-21 road)
C.C. Sabathia (10-6, 3.67) hasn’t absolutely wowed bettors this season, but he hasn’t disappointed either. He’s set up reasonably well to succeed at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, as he’s better away from Yankee Stadium this year (6-4, 3.33) and he totally owns the Rays in his career (7-1, 2.63 ERA in 12 starts).
However, C.C. will have to be at his best, as his lineup may not support him the way it normally does. Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano all hit under .200 lifetime against Scott Kazmir. How’s that for a stat?
Tampa Bay Rays (54-45 overall – 30-15 home)
We’ve established that Scott Kazmir (4-6, 6.69) owns most of the current Yankee lineup (2.65 lifetime ERA against New York), but we can’t automatically assume he’ll cruise on Tuesday. Strangely, he has a 9.50 ERA at Tropicana Field this season.
It’s hard to say if Tampa will help him by getting to Sabathia, as Evan Longoria has never faced him, Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford struggle against him and Ben Zobrist’s success against him comes from a small sample (six at-bats).
The Betting Verdict :
This matchup is tougher to call than the NFC North winner in NFL betting right now, but the Yankees could have the edge.
Yes, Kazmir pitches well against the Yanks, but C.C. is even more dominant against Tampa and the sample size is much bigger.
It’s also important to remember that the current Scott Kazmir may not be the Yankee killer we’re used to seeing. He’s been very erratic this season and still doesn’t look anything like his 2008 self.
The Pick :
New York Yankees
