Baseball Betting: Yankees Look To Take Advantage Against Struggling Orioles

The New York Yankees have managed to stay in the thick of the American League East race, and will enter this weekend right behind the Boston Red Sox for first place. With the Tampa Bay Rays unable to handle the turnover from a tough offseason the Yankees and Red Sox are all alone in their battle for the MLB betting division, with the winner also potentially looking at the pennant. New York had its way with the Seattle Mariners to open the week, and will look to continue its momentum and keep pace against another struggling team as they host the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game set this weekend.

Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees
Friday, 7:05 PM ET

The Yankees have supposedly expressed strong interest in reigning AL Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez, but after taking care of business against the Mariners this week it appears as though they will have more than a tough sports betting time landing him.

That means that at least for now New York will have to rely on what they have, continuing Friday as veteran AJ Burnett gets the call at home against Jeremy Guthrie for the Orioles. Although he hasn’t been great this year, Burnett has not been nearly as awful as he was a year ago and at 8-8 has the potential to still finish the year strong. He has a powerful offense behind him, and should be able to move above .500 as Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, and company work on Guthrie.

Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees
Saturday, 7:00 PM ET

Similar to Friday, the Yankees can afford to send relatively mediocre pitchers to the mound because the Orioles just don’t have the cavalry to take advantage. New York will go with Freddy Garcia on Saturday, and while he has been very steady for the club this season he will not blow any MLB team away. The problem for Baltimore is that although they might knock a few in off of Garcia, they will have to deal with the inconsistency of Jake Arrieta, who has allowed 12 earned runs in his last three starts to see his ERA move to 5.12.

Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees
Sunday, 1:05 PM ET

While they might not be able to land Hernandez, New York does have a Cy Young candidate of its own in CC Sabathia, and he will have the chance to close out the series with a sweep against Alfredo Simon on Sunday. Simon has spent most of his time in the bullpen this season for Baltimore, but he will make the spot start against Sabathia, who has allowed just four earned runs in his past six outings to bring his ERA down to 2.56. The Yankees will need to find at least one more quality arm to put behind Sabathia if they are going to be legitimate World Series contenders this year, but for now they can just enjoy their ace completing another sports betting bonus sweep.

BSN Sports Free Pick: New York Yankees