Oakland A's vs. New York Yankees Preview and Pick

Oakland A’s (5-7) – Dana Eveland +165, 10 O/U at New York Yankees (7-6) – Andy Pettitte -175, 10 O/U, Yankee Stadium, New York, N.Y., 7:05 PM EST, Monday

by Badger of Predictem.com

The Oakland A’s will get their first glimpse of the new billion dollar Yankee Stadium on Monday when they continue their East Coast road trip with the first of three games versus the New York Yankees. A pair of lefties are set to duel on the bump, as the A’s will send Dana Eveland out against Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte.

Despite their highly publicized 22-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, the game where the Indians scored 14 runs in the second inning, the Yankees come into the A’s series playing decent baseball. The Yanks have won four of their last six games, including a come- from-behind 7-3 victory over Cleveland in the series finale Sunday.

The A’s enter the Yankee series as losers of their last two games, dropping two of three to the Toronto Blue Jays including Sunday’s 1-0 decision. After taking two of three against the Boston Red Sox the series before, the A’s have now lost three of their last four and have scored only four runs total in those three losses.

Baseball oddsmakers opened tonight’s contest with the Yankees and Pettitte as large -200 favorites on the moneyline. The number has dropped at most sportsbooks already, as New York is now just -190 to -175 favorites across the various offshore sportsbooks on the Internet, with the A’s catching anywhere from +170 to +155 as underdogs. The over/under total opened at 9.5 and has gone up the hook to 10 runs at most of the books listing a total.

Tonight’s game will also mark the return of Jason Giambi to New York, as the former Yankee returned to the A’s as a free agent in the offseason after spending his last seven years in pinstripes. Giambi, who hit 209 homeruns and drove in 514 runs as a Yankee, is off to a slow start in his second go-around as an A as he is hitting just .227 with five runs batted in and no homers in his first 44 at bats.

The pitching matchup tonight favors the Yankees, as Pettitte has pitched much better than his counterpart Eveland in the early going this season. Pettitte also has a strong history versus the A’s in his career.

Pettitte threw seven-plus innings allowing six hits and three runs in his last start, a no-decision in the Yankees 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay last Wednesday. In two starts this season Pettitte is 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA, a 0.77 WHIP and just a .212 OBP. Both of his starts have been victories for the Yankees, and both have come in under the total.

Pettitte’s history versus the A’s is a good one, as he is 10-5 in 19 career starts against them with a 3.27 ERA, a .239 OBA and a .284 OBP. There are a few A’s that have had solid histories against him though, as Nomar Garciaparra (.308, 5 2B, 2 3B, HR, 11 RBI), Eric Chavez (.375, 6-for-16), Mark Ellis (.500, 6-for-12) and Orlando Cabrera (.333, 3-for-9, HR, 4 RBI) are all hitting over .300 versus the veteran lefty.

Eveland on the other hand has had a rough start to his 2009 season, even though the A’s have won both games he has started. Eveland has yet to get a decision, but has given up 16 hits in just 10.2 innings with a 6.75 ERA, a 1.97 WHIP and a .404 OBP. He has faced the Yankees once in his young career, going six innings and allowing just two runs on four hits. But he also gave up six walks in the game, which ended up as a loss.

Tonight’s game should also be interesting to watch from an offensive standpoint because the A’s come into the game with an MLB-worst OPS (. 230) and just three homeruns as a team. So far the new Yankee Stadium has been a bandbox, with 20 homeruns in just four games, and it will be interesting to see if the A’s can take advantage of the short porches and friendly confines.

There are a few strong betting trends to watch, as the under is 13-3 in the last 16 meeting between these two team in New York. The under is also 6-2 in Pettitte’s last eight starts versus the A’s, but remember, we’re talking the old Yankee Stadium here and not the new one. So you can file those numbers wherever you want, as they could end up being irrelevant by most bettors’ standards.

Both teams have played over the total more often than not thus far in 2009, as Oakland is 8-4 versus the total and the Yankees are 9-4 versus the total.

Badger’s Pick: At -175 that’s too much juice to wager on the hometown Yankees tonight in my opinion, even though I think they will win the game. So if you’re going to bet on this game, take the safe route and take the over of 10 as Eveland won’t make it out of the fourth inning against the Yankee lineup tonight. Take the over of 10.

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