Mariners plus $1.35 at Yankees
The favored Yankees are ripe to lose here returning home after being on the road for 10 days and off their wildest game of the year.
It’s understandable if the Yankees’ concentration level is off following their bitter series with the Tigers that culminated in yesterday’s 10-6 Yankees loss where there were three bench-clearing incidents and a major brawl.
Suspensions are looming, which can be a distraction. The New York tabloids weren’t shy about the brawl pointing out Gary Sanchez is now a marked man for throwing cheap shots during the melee. All of this, along with coming back to New York following an extened trip, has to take a toll on the Yankees.
The Mariners are playing in their seventh straight road game. Seattle, though, has won six of its last eight games. This is an important game for the Mariners, who trail the Yankees by four games in the wild card race. It’s a plus if the Mariners have Robinson Cano, who suffered a hamstring injury on Wednesday. I would be surprised, however, if Cano plays.
The pitching matchup is southpaw Ariel Miranda versus lefty CC Sabathia.
Seattle has a winning record against lefties. New York is .500 versus them.
Miranda is a bottom-of-the-rotation starter. But as far as that goes, he’s decent meaning he’s a legitimate fourth-to-fifth type starter rather than a stiff. Miranda defeated the Rays in his last start this past Saturday giving up three runs on five hits in five innings. MIranda seems to do well against stronger competition as the Mariners are 11-5 the last 16 times he’s gone against above .500 opponents.
Sabathia is past his prime and pitching on a tricky knee. Sabathia’s ERA since the All-Star break is 4.45 spanning six starts. The Yankees’ high profile bullpen is proving to be overrated.
The Mariners have proven themselves at Yankee Stadium winning eight of the last 11 there.
