Play on Game #973 Ny Yankees w/ Warren (4:05 PM EST)
I like the Yankees here with the money. They will have Warren on the mound who is pitching better than any of their other starters. The Yankees have won 6 of his 9 starts this season (66%) and he was sharp in his 1st day start of the season last week vs. the Royals when he went 6.1 innings only giving up 2 hits. Warren is ranked 15th in MLB in run support with 5.33 runs a game.
For the A's they will have Chavez on the mound who does have a respectable 2.44 ERA, but the A's are only 3-8 (27%) in his 11 starts this season. Chavez is ranked 110th (next to last) in run support this season only getting 1.86 runs of support a game. He is more of a fly-ball pitcher which could benefit the Yankees as the wind is expected to be blowing out for the NW at 15 MPH. I will also note that Chavez weakness is against left handed hitters and it's possible that the Yankees will have 7 guys hitting left handed today. (Headley, Beltran, Teixeira are all switch hitters). Jones, Gardner, Drew, and McCann are all lefties. I will also note that Chavez is 0-3 in 3 day starts with a 4.42 ERA.
Oakland has been burning money all year long and they are 12-20 as a favorite going into this game. While the Yankees are 11-13 as a dog, I think today they are going to be a winning underdog. The A's are 2-7 in their last 9 during Game 4 of a series. The Yankees are 6-4 in their L10 as a dog of +120-+170. Chavez was a -155 favorite a few weeks ago vs. the White Sox and the A's lost the game 4-3. Take the Yankees.
Play on Game #977 LA Angels w/ Shoemaker (8:05 PM EST)
I like the Angels this Sunday night. I always think the underdog is worth a look on ESPN Sunday night baseball, and the Angels look to be in a good spot tonight. Price will be on the rubber for the Tigers and they are 9-1 in his 10 starts this season, but Price as struggled more in night games (4.65 ERA) compared to day games (1.51 ERA). Opponents are hitting .298 vs. Price in night games compared to .192 in day games. Current members of the Angels roster are hitting .271 vs. Price with a .435 SLG%. Pujols, who has been heating up, has 2 HR vs. Price in 11 career AB's.
For the Angels, they will have Shoemaker on the rubber who has a 1.17 WHIP on the season. He faced the Tigers once last season and went 7 IP only scattering 3 hits while not allowing a run. Shoemaker is in great form right now also with a 31K/ 5 BB mark for the month of May. He is coming off his best start of the season and I look for him to continue with momentum.
Detroit is not as good on the road. They tend to go on scoring droughts and their offense just really isn't that good right now in my opinion. In night time games, Detroit only averages 2.69 runs a game which is last in MLB and so is the 11 HR's they have hit in these 26 games. The Angels are averaging 4.08 runs a game in night games.
Shoemaker is 3-1 career as a homedog. The one loss was earlier this season, 3-2, vs. the Mariners and King Felix. Shoemaker was solid though going 7.1 innings striking out 10 and only walking 1. He actually did not allow a run in that game until the 7th inning.
I will also note that the Angels are 16-5 the L21 meetings prior to yesterday's game. Also, the Angels are 6-1 in their L7 Sunday games with Davis behind the plate and the home team is 8-2 in Davis' L10 games behind home plate vs. Detroit. Let's take the Angels here as a homedog.
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