DAVID MALINSKY
4* #968 NY YANKEES Over
We did not have to sweat long to get our Over ticket in the Bronx firmly in place last night, and through two games these offenses have produced 32 Runs on 44 Hits, 16 W’s and nine HR’s. And that included starts from aces Alexi Ogando and C. C. Sabathia. We do not see the flow changing at all this afternoon, with a favorable hitters wind once again, and plenty of vulnerability on the mound.
C. J. Wilson helps to command a fair price point off of his 7-3/3.09, but take some of that with a grain of salt – there are 108 pitchers that have worked at least 70 IP so far, and his difficulty of batters faced checks in dead last at #108. For example, the Mariners, A’s, Twins and Angels are the bottom four in the A.L. in Runs, and those four teams represent half of all of his starts, and more than half of his IP. Now he is going to have to step up in class for one of the few times so far this season, against a lineup that is not only potent, but will also force high early pitch counts, and with the starters only churning 14 IP over the last four games there are not a lot of fresh arms in the bullpen.
Meanwhile we do not believe this will be a fairy tale ending for Brian Gordon. Gordon turns 33 in a couple of months and is a converted OF that has not thrown a pitch in a Major League game since 2008. He put up some nice control numbers at AAA this season but shows nothing special in terms of stuff, and pitching to contact against the bats in the Texas lineup in this park is a tough indoctrination back into The Show. Meanwhile the absence of Rafael Soriano and Joba Chamberlain also means a lot of bridge-building to get to Mariano Rivera, which opens the door for some explosive potential in the middle innings of this one.