The New York Yankees welcome in the Philadelphia Phillies today in Major League Baseball action. The game is scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on MLB.tv. Currently the odds for the game have the Yankees favored to pick up the win at home.
Whether the Phillies are looking to move Cole Hamels, today's starter, or not, he's still getting the ball every fifth day. Hamels will look to continue Philadelphia's little streak they have going here, now at three games. Astonishingly they've managed to score 30 runs the last three games combined, putting back-to-back 11 spots on the Pinstripes in New York.
Hamels is 5-5 with a 2.96 ERA so far this season, throwing 94 1/3 innings already. The Phillies have dropped each of his last two starts by scoring a combined four runs in road losses at Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Hamels didn't do much to help himself in that start against the Reds, allowing five earned runs.
Current Yankees own a .240 average against him in 225 plate appearances. Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann have each homered three times, Mark Teixeira has homered twice but it not expected to be in today's lineup.
New York trots out Ivan Nova, who will be making his first start in 14 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He's certainly fired up and ready to go in his season debut and he should help a battered Yankees rotation. The Yankees haven't announced whether he will be on a pitch count or not, so we will see what happens. Jeff Francoeur has four hits in five at bats against him, Ben Revere is hitless in three trips to the plate. They are the only two Phillies to have faced him.
With Nova just coming back off the disabled list, Hamels looking to shine and the Phillies bats putting up consistent plate appearances (at least for a short time, anyway), we like Philadelphia today.
Free Pick: Phillies
Stop the All-Star Game Ballot Stuffing
Pro handicappers Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik have a bone to pick with MLB Commisioner Bud Selig, who decided the All-Star exhibition game will determine World Series home field advantage. With Royals fans currently voting seven Kansas City players into the starting line up of the American League team, this popularity-based roster of an exhibition game which has way too much impact on the most important baseball series of the year.
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