Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees – Saturday, August 31
In the realm of online sports betting, this game will be a very hard one to pick, at least when compared to other games in the majors. When looking at pay per head sites, you can make a fundamental determination about this contest that can shape your betting play. Examining 5dimes.com reviews during a baseball season will help you to some extent, but you have to concede that this is a game that could go either way.
Scott Feldman is the starting pitcher for Baltimore, while Ivan Nova takes the bump for the Yankees. Feldman was very sharp in his last game this past Sunday against the Oakland Athletics, another playoff contender. He lasted only five innings, but he gave up only three hits, just one through the first four innings. Feldman is not a workhorse who will go deep into a game, but when he’s on the mound, he can be very effective, and his last three starts indicate as much. Feldman has allowed just four total earned runs in those last three starts. The Yankees have begun to hit the ball better in recent weeks, but they were contained to an appreciable extent by the Tampa Bay Rays’ pitching staff this past weekend. The matchup between Baltimore’s pitchers and New York’s hitters will be a tough one to handicap, not just in this game but throughout the weekend series in the Bronx.
As for the other side of the matchup, Nova pitched well for the Pinstripes this past Sunday against Tampa Bay. He gave up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to a snappy 3.14, a bit lower than Feldman’s 3.87 mark. Baltimore, though, has a lineup that is and has been better than New York’s batting order for most of the season. There are a lot of balancing, tempering elements to account for in this confrontation.
When you make a betting play at an online sportsbook, you need to be able to frame an event in a larger context, and the context here is that the Yankees need this series a little more than the Orioles do, although both teams surely view it as an essential weekend. The O’s and the Yankees are both trying to catch the Oakland Athletics in the American League wild card chase. Since the Yankees and Orioles are going to continue to play in the American League East against a lot of tough opponents (including Tampa Bay and the Boston Red Sox as well), every game will be seen as an urgent moment, and right now, the Yankees – being behind the Orioles in the standings – have to dig deep just a little bit more. That is what might decide this game more than anything else. The fact that Alex Rodriguez has still not begun serving his suspension – and is hitting better while he stays on the field – could also tip the scales to the Yankees. Take New York in this spot.
