Jeff Benton
Jeff Benton
Sunday's 25 Dime MLB winner ...
25 Dime: YANKEES (over Angels) ... NOTE: List only CC Sabathia as New York's starting pitcher. If Sabathia does not start, this play is VOID!
Yankees
I know the Yankees have blown multiple-run leads and lost big in the first two games of this series in Anaheim. However, unlike this afternoon, they also didn’t have CC Sabathia on the mound in either of those contests.
Don’t look now, but Sabathia is starting to round into form. He rebounded from a terrible home start against Seattle 10 days ago – no surprise there, as nobody has pitched well at new Yankee Stadium – with a sensational outing against the Twins on Tuesday. In that contest, he gave up just one run on three hits and a walk in seven innings, with New York rolling to a 10-2 victory. In his previous road start a week earlier, he put up an identical one-run, three-hit, seven-inning effort at the Mets, and the Yanks rolled 9-1.
Sabathia is now 6-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 10 road starts (compared with 2-2 with a 4.55 ERA at home). And if you take out a six-run, 4 1/3-inning disaster in his Yankee debut at Baltimore on Opening Day, Sabathia is 6-2 on the highway and given up just 16 earned runs in 62 1/3 innings (2.31 ERA) with a 52-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Also, five of his six road wins been blowouts (6-1 at Kansas City, 4-0 at Baltimore, 10-5 at Cleveland, 9-1 at the Mets, 10-2 at the Twins).
But here’s what really makes Sabathia appealing today: He’s facing an Angels lineup that, yes, has scored 24 runs in the first two games of this series, but it’s still a lineup that’s been completely decimated by injuries recently. Just this week, L.A. was forced to put sluggers Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero on the DL, and then in Friday’s 10-6 win over New York, the Halos’ hottest hitter – outfielder Juan Rivera – strained a hamstring and had to leave the game. Rivera didn’t play Saturday and with the All-Star break coming up, I highly doubt Mike Scioscia will put him on the field today.
That leaves Kendry Morales and Mike Napoli as the only power bats in the L.A. lineup. And while Napoli, who had a big game Saturday, is a stud, Morales is a switch-hitter who has been dreadful from the right side this year (.213, 0 HR, 5 RBI in 61 at-bats) but torrid when batting lefty (.303, 15 HR, 44 RBI). Well, we all know Sabathia is a southpaw, one of the nastiest in the game, meaning Morales will spend most of the day in the right side of the batter’s box.
Finally, a quick word about Angels starter John Lackey. Normally one of the better, more consistent right-handers in the game, he simply has not been himself this year. First, he missed the first six weeks of the season while recovering from a shoulder injury, and since returning, he’s gone 3-4 with a 5.18 ERA 11 starts, with the Angels going 5-6 in those 11 games. He’s also 1-3 with a 5.46 ERA in four home starts, including an 8-5 loss to Texas on Tuesday when he gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Halos have now lost six of Lackey’s last seven home starts since late last year, and the hard-throwing Texan is just 4-7 with a 4.81 ERA in 15 lifetime starts against the Yankees
Bottom line: Despite roughing up Andy Pettitte in the fifth inning on Saturday, Los Angeles is still barely hitting .250 against left-handed pitching at home this year and it was hitting .216 vs. lefties over a 10-game stretch prior to Saturday’s contest. Thus, I see no reason why Sabathia – who is five times the pitcher Pettitte is at this point in their respective careers – wouldn’t easily handle the Angels’ “B” lineup. I also see no reason why the surging Yankees offense (.303 team average last 10 games) won’t tee off on Lackey.
Behind their high-priced ace and their slugging third baseman (A-Rod has homered three times in the last two days), the Bronx Bombers will avoid the sweep today and they -- and us! -- will head into the All-Star break with an easy win.
PAID AND CONFIRMED BY MYSELF TANNGUYEN94 AND MARFA
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