New York Yankees vs Oakland A’s MLB Odds, Betting Preview 9-3-18

Labor Day MLB action and we will see the New York Yankees rumble with the Oakland A’s in a game that has playoff implications. This is game one of a three-game series and will take place at the Oakland Coliseum with a start time of 4:05 pm ET. The Yankees took two of the three meetings at home earlier in the year.  

Lines:  NY Yankees +112… Oakland -122… Over/Under 8.5

Pitching Matchup

Toeing the rubber for the Yankees will be CC Sabathia and he has gone 7-5 with a 3.36 ERA in 24 starts on the year, including 2-3 with a 4.27 ERA in 11 starts on the road. In his career, he has gone 128-77 with a 3.73 ERA in 271 starts on the road and 39-21 with a 2.88 ERA during Sept/ Oct. He is 11-11 with a 4.55 ERA in 31 starts against the A’s, including 5-7 with a 5.20 ERA in 16 starts here at the Coliseum.

Trevor Cahill will take the hill for the A’s and he has gone 5-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 17 starts on the year, including 4-0 with a 0.85 ERA in eight starts here at home. In his career, he has gone 28-18 with a 2.90 ERA in 58 starts here at the Coliseum and 19-8 with a 3.87 ERa in 59 games (31 starts) during Sept/ Oct. Cahill is 0-4 with an 11.37 ERA in six games (5 starts) against the Yankees in his career.  

A Look At The Yankees

The Yankees have been very mediocre of late as they have gone just 3-4 over their last seven games. They still have the top wildcard slot in the American League, but they could lose some of that lead if they struggle in this series. The Yanks currently lead the A’s by 5.5 games for that top spot. They also have a 10 game lead over the Mariners, who are in the 3rd slot. The Yankees will be in the postseason this year, but if they don’t turn things back around, then they may not last long. The offense has been there for them all year, but the pitching has struggled some of late as they have allowed 5.58 rpg over their last seven games. The good thing for them here is that the A’s have not been a great offensive team at home.

The bad thing about this game is the fact that Cahill has been very strong here at home so far. New York is off a bad 11-7 home loss to the Tigers. Lance Lynn had a horrible outing as he allowed six ERs on nine hits and a walk in just 3.2 innings of work. He is now 8-10 with a 5.10 ERA on the year, including 0-2 with a 9.15 ERA in his last four starts. They need him to get back on track for the playoffs if they make it past the wildcard round. Aaron Hicks (24th) and Luke Voit (5th) each went deep for the Yankees. New York has averaged 4.80 rpg and has allowed 3.83 rpg in going 38-27 on the road.     

A Look At The A’s

The Oakland A’s are struggling a little as well of late as they have lost four of their last seven games. They still own a 4.5 game lead over the Mariners for the 2nd wildcard slot, while also sitting just 3.5 games out of first in their division. Oakland did pick up a big win against the Mariners on Sunday as they won by a score if 8-2. They ended up splitting the four-game set with the Mariners. Oakland is still in very good shape as far as the playoff race goes. This is a huge series for them as they have a chance of gaining some ground on the Yankees, who own the top spot in the wildcard race.

Back to their win over the Mariners. Leading their attack in the game was Stephen Piscotty, who had two hits and drove in five runs. His two hits were of the longball variety and he now has 21 on the year. Marcus Semien chipped in with a hit and two RBIs. Edwin Jackson had another solid outing as he allowed just one ER on three hits and two walks while striking out two in 6.0 innings of work. He is now 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA on the year while picking up the save was Blake Treinen, which was his 35th of the year. Oakland has gone 41-28 here at home and has averaged 4.03 rpg and have allowed 3.82 rpg in those games.   

Trends

New York is:

72-35 in their last 107 games on grass

19-7 in their last 26 vs. the American League West

1-7 in their last 8 vs. a team with a winning record

The Under is 23-10-2 in their last 35 road games vs. a right-handed starter

Oakland is:

48-20 in their last 67 games on grass

7-2 in Cahill’s last 9 starts on grass

1-11 in Cahill’s last 12 starts during game 1 of a series

The Over is 9-3-1 in their last 13 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600