Baseball Picks: Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees Game 1
Written September 7, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz
The Rays are coming off a possible season crushing loss yesterday as they entered the top of the ninth up 3-1 and surrendered a four spot as Brandon Inge unloaded a grand slam as the Tigers held on to that 5-3 margin completing the sweep of Tampa. The Rays now sit seven games behind AL wild card leader Boston and very much need to take this double header from the Bronx Bombers, you can count on them playing all their main guys in both games. Evan Longoria has been sizzling hot of late as he has recorded two or more hits in each of his last seven games. Longoria has 27 homers and 99 RBIs on the season. Carlos Pena has hit a team lead 39 homers and 100 RBIs this season as him and Longo have been the power production for Tampa. Carl Crawford has struggled of late and Jason Bartlett has not been his usual consistent self, however the runs have been coming, it has been the bullpen that has been the major downfall of this team. Matt Garza takes the hill in this game 1 of the doubleheader after a sub-par start vs. Boston. He is 7-9 with a 4.01 ERA on the season and that earned run average is not an indication of him being solid. In his five August starts he went 0-1 with a 5.27 ERA. Now, in three starts against Tampa he is 0-1 but has posted a 2.84 ERA. Garza will face an offense that is power heavy and also hits for average. The Yanks are coming off a major clunker against Toronto so you know they’ll be eager to get out there. Expect the Rays offense to show up tonight but for Garza to be below average. Look for Carlos Pena to have a big game from the plate along with Pat Burrell. Manager Joe Maddon needs to get the message across that regardless what happens in game one today this game is an absolute MUST! Monday’s MLB odds have the Yankees as -190 favorites over the Rays in the 1st game of the double-header with the total set for 9 runs.
The New York Yankees are 87-50 which is the best record in all of baseball. They lead in most runs and home runs in the AL and are just stacked from top to bottom. Mark Teixeira is an American League MVP candidate in his first season in the Bronx as he’s hitting .279 with 33 homers and 102 RBIs, Derek Jeter might be having the best season of his career and is now also being considered an MVP candidate himself hitting .330 with 17 homers and 61 RBIs while playing a superb shortstop. Johnny Damon has 24 homers and 75 RBIs while Robinson Cano has 23 home runs and 75 RBIs as well while also hitting .319 from the plate. Nick Swisher has been a major asset to this team while Jorge Posada and Melky Cabrera have been clutch in big spots. This lineup has all the makings for a long postseason run. We will see if the pitching holds up though. On the mound tonight is C.C. Sabathia who in my mind is the favorite for the AL Cy Young award. He is 16-7 with a 3.48 ERA this year. In his six August starts he went 5-0 with a 2.64 ERA. However, tonight you can count on a rare clunker from C.C. He is 0-1 in two starts against Tampa with a 5.93 ERA as the Rays have hit three homers off him in only 13.2 innings of work. Tampa will be very desperate and show up with tons of emotion tonight, they have seemed to have Sabathia’s number. The Yankees will provide plenty of runs but I am unsure if it will be enough to gain a victory in this one. Look for A-Rod to have a big impact from the dish tonight.
Haimo’s Hot Notes: The OVER is 5-1 in the Yankees last six games. New York is 39-13 in their last 52 home games. I understand how dominant the Yankees have been, but with virtually only home field advantage left to fight for the urgency of how the pitching staff will treat these next three weeks will be very interesting. These are my FREE PLAYS, so while I stand by them as they have been doing quite well, on my star system they are ranked lowest. Enjoy, good luck and you can find all my premium picks on my cappers page where I have been tearing it up of last picking at a 62% rate over the last three weeks and am undefeated so far in football top plays.
Jordan’s Free Pick: Rays/Yankees OVER 9 (Game 1)
If you plan on doing any baseball betting the rest of this season, be sure you are making the most with your money with MLB picks from the top cappers in the business. No other site brings you more winning baseball picks from more expert handicappers.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays: Baseball Picks
- Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees Odds & Picks
- Baseball Picks: Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays
- Baseball Picks: Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners
- Baseball Odds & Picks: New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Got something to say?
- Betting on Baseball
- Baseball Betting Lines
- World Series Odds
- Understanding MLB Run Lines
- Baseball Money Lines Explained
- Baseball Betting Forum
- MLB Gambling
- Baseball Sportsbooks
- How to Bet Baseball
- Dime Line Sportsbooks
- World Series Betting
No comments yet, but your thoughts are welcome!