We are into the dog days of summer and the MLB
season is starting to really grind, and value bets are few and far in between as
odds makers have now got a grip on things, releasing razor sharp lines. We found value in today's Yankees Rangers tilt.
Josh Hamilton is back
Hamilton homered yesterday to regain the MLB lead league in
HRs after a horrific July in which he batted just .190. But, he has absolutely
exploded and returned to his MVP form, picking up his teammates as
well. Hamilton has a ten game hit streak going in which he is 15-45 with three
home runs and 15 RBIs. It has given the Rangers a decent spike in their overall
offense, as they are hitting .288 as a team, averaging 6.09 runs per 9 innings
over their last 10 games, with an overall record of 7-3.
C.C. Sabathia back on
the disabled list
Sabathia is once again hurt and that means relief pitcher David Phelps will take the mound tonight for a spot start, which is never a
good thing against a Rangers lineup that is hitting on all cylinders at the
moment. The last start Phelps made, you
have to go all the way back to July 4, when he lasted just four
innings but had a solid line of just 2 hits and 1 earned run while striking out
8. We can expect more of the same innings total today from Phelps as he is not
stretched out enough to go more than 3-4 innings, especially against this
Rangers lineup, but it is highly doubtful that we will see that same line once
again of just 1 earned run and 8 Ks. Joe
Girardi is going to really have to mix and match his bullpen in this one, and
past results have shown Girardii tends to over-manage in these situations, and
it often gets him burned.
Ryan Dempster
It looked like Dempster was going to have a tough time
getting adjusted to the American League, which is to be expected for any pitcher
making the leap from the NL to the AL. He got out to a horrible start, getting
rocked for eight runs in 4 and 2/3rds against the Angels in
his first start for Texas. Dempster is starting to settle down though, he
recorded his first win against a potent Red Sox offense his last time out, not
giving up a single run in 6 and 2/3 innings. I fully expect Dempster to bring
this type of performance once again tonight, as he was once the league leader
in ERA and showed elite skills and they have not suddenly just dropped off the
map, he just needed a little time to get settled in with his new team and
acclimated to AL hitting.
The Yankees have some big holes in their lineup right now
with, a struggling Andruw Jones hitting behind Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson
behind him, who is basically feast or famine, than followed by Casey Mcghee,
Russell Martin, and Ichiro. So Dempster will certainly have his opportunities
to have breaks in the Yankee lineup and not have to make perfect pitches to
every single better. To be completely honest, the Yankee lineup has some easy
outs in it right now, while Texas is scorching top to bottom and David Phelps
will have to be perfect to every batter.
Texas is streaking and look to be back to their MLB-best form. This is too much of a task to ask Davild Phelps to step in
and spot start and shut down this lineup, which is scorching hot at the moment.
Meanwhile, Dempster should be able to keep the Bronx lineup in check as his
line up provides him plenty of run support.
MLB odds makers list the Yankees as -115 favorites. The total has fallen to 9.5.
The Texas Rangers our are MLB Pick of the Day.
Good Luck everybody!