Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Yankees even money at Red Sox
There are not going to be too many times in the future when you can get this low of a price on Masahiro Tanaka. You never want to get in the habit of overemphasizing results in April, but right now Tanaka has more than lived up to the hefty contract the Yankees bestowed on him. Tanaka is in the argument for best pitcher in baseball.
The guy has made three starts - facing the Blue Jays, Orioles and Cubs - and is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA. Tanaka's strikeout-to-walk ratio is 28-to-2. The right-hander has the fewest walks per nine innings, is second in strikeouts per nine innings and has the third-lowest WHIP. Tanaka has accomplished this against two power offenses, Toronto and Baltimore.
Now he goes against a Boston offense that is struggling batting just .238 with a slugging percentage of only .361, one of the lowest in the league. The Red Sox have scored more than four runs in only three of their last 12 games. Boston is 3-8 in its last 11 games versus a right-hander.
The Yankees face southpaw Jon Lester, who they just saw at Yankee Stadium 11 days ago. Lester defeated CC Sabathia and New York, 4-2, in that game. That was the only game Boston won during the four-game series. The Yankees should field a much stronger lineup than they did in that matchup when Francisco Cervelli started at catcher, Ichiro Suzuki started in left field and Kelly Johnson was at first base.
That's also the only game the Yankees have lost during the last seven road games when they've faced a lefty. Lester remains solid, but he no longer is an elite starter.
New York is three games above .500. Boston has a losing record. The Yankees rank fifth in batting average and have a .410 slugging percentage. Right now the Yankees are the better team and have the better pitcher going until proven otherwise.
On the handicapping front, I am 24-11-1 on my last 36 paid/free NBA plays after going 2-0 on Monday with my basketball selections easily cashing with the Clippers over the Warriors and on the over in the Grizzlies-Thunder game. I have a Tuesday Top Ticket NBA play going today in addition to this free offering. It can be found here: /pregamepros/pro-bettor/bettor.aspx?id=7746#capper. I am looking to go 4-1 in the playoffs with my only loss coming on the under in the Trail Blazers-Rockets game when the total went over because of overtime.
As always, no bad luck!