New York Yankees vs Oakland A’s MLB Odds, Free Preview 9-5-18

The American League East meets the American League West as the New York Yankees grapple with the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum. This is game three of a three-game series and has a start time of 10:05 pm ET. The Yankees took game two by a score of 5-1 and now lead the season series 3-2.  

Lines:  New York -156… Oakland +146… Over/Under 7.5

Pitching Matchup

Luis Severino will get the nod for the Yankees in this one and he has gone 17-6 with a 3.32 ERA in 28 starts on the year, including 8-4 with a 3.77 ERA in 14 starts on the road. In his career, he has gone 18-10 with 3.24 ERA in 47 games (40 starts) on the road and 8-1 with a 2.71 ERA in 21 games (13 starts) during Sept/ Oct. Severino is 1-0 with a 3.50 ERA in three career starts against the A’s, including 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA in one start here at the Coliseum.

Mike Fiers will get the nod for the A’s and he has gone 10-6 with a 3.38 ERA in 26 starts on the year, including 7-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 16 home starts. In his career, he has gone 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) here at the Coliseum and 5-11 with a 5.52 ERA in 26 games (23 starts) during Sept/ Oct, while against the Yankees he has gone 1-1 with a 5/45 ERA in five starts.    

A Look At The Yankees

The New York Yankees continue to have a tight grip on the top wildcard spot in the American League as the lead the A’s by 4.5 games for that spot. They also have a 10 game lead over the Mariners, who are in third place, so it is safe to say that the Yankees will win one of the wildcard spots. They have been below average of late as they have won just four of their last nine games, after winning eight of their previous nine. This is a dangerous team just because of their offense, but many wonder if they have enough starting pitching to make a run at a world series berth.

They have Severino and J.A. Happ, but the rest of the staff seems like a question mark. CC Sabathia does bring experience, how effective will he be? Sonny Gray and Lance Lynn are a mess. We shall see. The Yanks took game one of this series by a score of 5-1 band they did get a very good start from J.A. Happ. He got a no-decision in the game but allowed just one ER on two hits and a walk while striking out five in 6.0 innings of work. David Robertson got the win and is now 8-3 with a 2.85 ERA on the year. Aaron Hicks had two RBIs in the game while Adeiny Hechavarria (4) and Luke Voit (7) each went deep for the Bronx Bombers. New York has gone 39-28 on the road and they have averaged 4.78 rpg and have allowed 3.82 rpg in those games.

A Look At The A’s

Oakland is in a good spot as far as getting to the playoffs. They come in with a 5.5 game lead over the Mariners for the 2nd wildcard spot and they are just 3.5 games out of first in the American League West. This could very well be a preview of the wildcard game in the American League. The A’s have not been playing all that well of late as they are just 4-5 over their last nine games, but luckily for them, the Mariners have really been struggling of late. The did lose game one of this series but have a chance to get it back in this one as Mike Fiers is on the mound and he has gone 3-0 with a 2.93 ERA in his five starts since joining the team. The problem is that he is being opposed by Luis Severino in this one.

The A’s have not been as good on offense at home as they have been on the road and that offense didn’t show up in game one of this series. They scored just one run in that game and did so on just two measly hits. Their lone run in the game came on Stephen Piscotty’s 22nd homer of the year. Collecting the other hit for them was Matt Chapman. Liam Hendricks was their opener in this game and didn’t allow a hit or a walk in one inning. Fernando Rodney took the loss and is now 4-3 with a 2.86 ERA on the year. The A’s have gone 42-29 here at the Coliseum for the year and they have averaged 4.07 rpg and have allowed 3.80 rpg in those games.

Trends

New York is:

16-5 in their last 21 games vs. a right-handed starter

20-8 in their last 28 vs. the American League West

2-8 in their last 10 vs. a team with a winning record

The Under is 15-5-2 in their last 22 during game 3 of a series

Oakland is:

28-8 in their last 36 after allowing 5 runs or more in their previous game

24-9 in their last 33 home games

1-5 in their last 6 during game 3 of a series

The Over is 39-18-4 in their last 61 games vs. a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15