Two of the AL's marquee teams will open up a four-game series on Monday night at Comerica Park in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPN. Let’s take a closer look at tonight's matchup between the Yankees and the Tigers from a betting perspective. With Ivan Nova and Justin Verlander slated to take the mound, it is sure to be a spectacle.
Don’t call it a
comeback
The Detroit Tigers
captured an emotional 10-8 come-from-behind home victory over the Cleveland
Indians on Sunday afternoon, scoring five runs in the bottom of the 10th
inning. It reminded me of the great LL Cool J song “Mama Said Knock
You Out”, which the Tigers essentially did to the Tribe’s season. The
New York Yankees will spend a week on the road, coming off a disappointing 4-5
homestand, but capped it off with a series win over the Seattle Mariners.
Champagne Supernova
Staying with our
musical theme for this betting preview, Yankees starting pitcher Ivan Nova
(10-5, 4.53 ERA) is certainly glad the calendar changed, posting a 1-3 record
and 5.97 ERA in six July outings. The right-hander can now focus on
improving his 6-0 mark and 3.48 ERA in seven career August starts, issuing just
nine walks and striking out 34 batters in 44 combined innings.
Justin Verlander
(11-7, 2.63 ERA) hasn’t been his dominant self in his last five regular-season
matchups against the Bronx Bombers, tallying an 0-2 record and 4.91 ERA,
including a 5-1 home loss on June 3. The 2011 AL Cy Young and MVP Award
has gone 5-2 with a 1.68 ERA in nine home starts, with opposing batters hitting
.163 against him. In Verlander’s last 60 starts in front of the home
crowd, the Tigers have managed to win 46 of those games. All of this, yet many sports bettors still find themselves asking if Verlander is worth the -180 price tag.
Unfamiliar road
Sports bettors may be
in shock when checking out the MLB odds on Monday, considering the
Yankees have been a road underdog of +150 to +175 just two times this season—winning
both contests. It’s important to note that Verlander’s earlier home loss
in this series was one of those victories, while both have gone UNDER the
total.
Trends point to a
low-scoring affair
Both teams rank in the
top 10 in terms of runs scored this season, but there’s some significant trends
that point toward a low-scoring contest in the Motor City. The UNDER is
9-6 when the Yankees are on the road with a total of 8 to 8.5, while the Tigers
have fallen short of the number in seven of 12 contests with the same number at
home.
Prediction
It’s always difficult
to place your baseball picks on the UNDER when two teams have the ability to hit the ball out of the
ballpark, especially the Yankees with a major league-high 168 home runs, but
Verlander has surrendered just four big flies at home this season. The
Bronx Bombers have also failed to go above the number in their last four games
as a road underdog of +151 to +200.
MLB Pick: Under 8