MLB Baseball
2012-05-12 - Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Saturday 12 May 2012 - First Pitch 4:05pm ET
9:05pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The New York Yankees (18-14) received a hello from a former player, Jesus Montero, last night in a 6-2 win over the Seattle Mariners (15-19) in game 1 of this series and tonight they will see another.
In the off-season, the Yankees made a big decision to allow Montero as well as Hector Noesi to go to Seattle in exchange for Michael Pineda, who was subsequently ruled out for the season. Montero was one of the brightest prospects in the Yankees line up as he hit 4 Home Runs and 13 RBI's in 19 games for them last season, and he reminded New York of the talent he possesses by knocking another out of the ball park last night.
Montero has 5 Home Runs and 17 RBI's from his 30 games in a Seattle shirt.
Hector Noesi will go to the mound for Seattle and he has a 2-3 record and a 6.30 ERA in 2012 so far. The pitcher has really struggled in road games where is 0-2 and a 9.22 ERA from 3 starts, but he did finish last season with a 1-1 record and a 2.59 ERA from 14 appearances at Yankee stadium while in the famous pinstripe uniform.
Noesi gave up just 1 run in 7 innings pitched last time out against the Minnesota Twins in a game played at home.
New York will look to counter by sending Phil Hughes to the mound and there should be a little less pressure on him after his spot in the starting rotation was assured after a much more productive start last time out. Hughes is 2-4 with a 6.67 ERA this season, but he allowed just 3 runs in just under 7 innings pitched against the Kansas City Royals in his last outing, which was also the longest he has had this season.
The pitcher is 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 5 career starts against the Seattle Mariners.
Head to Head
New York have taken the first game of the season series last night and have now improved to 6-2 in the last 8 against Seattle overall.
The Yankees had lost their last home game to Seattle before last night, but they had won 5 of their last 6 before that loss against them in the Bronx.
New York are 10-7 at home, Seattle are 8-11 on the road.
New York are 6-4 in day games this season, Seattle are 3-7.
Prediction
This looks like a tough game for the Seattle Mariners, although it is a little hard to gauge exactly what Hector Noesi is thinking when it comes to time to pitch against the Yankees rather than for them. He has said he is a 'little excited', but that could lead to a loss of command and he has been inconsistent so far while in a Seattle uniform.
The Yankees should be more than aware of what Noesi wants to do at the plate and that should give them the edge with their powerful batting line up capable of putting up a number of runs in any game.
Phil Hughes pitched better in his last start against the Kansas City Royals and has enjoyed success against Seattle in the past so he should be a little more confident of getting the job done today.
It is slightly risky backing Hughes to limit teams, but I have a feeling he will be given a bit of run support today and that should allow the New York Yankees to win by a couple of runs at least so I will take them at odds against on the run line to do so.
The Pick :
New York Yankees 7-4 Seattle Mariners
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the New York Yankees - 1.5 Runs @ 2.10
