Game 1 ALDS Odds : Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees
Thursday, September 29, 2011
by WagerWeb Sportsbook
For the first time since 2006, the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees will meet in the postseason as they begin the American League Division Series on Friday night in the Bronx. New York is a -135 favorite on Wager Web Sportsbook for the opener.
Of course Detroit, the AL Central champions, is led by Justin Verlander, the cinch AL Cy Young winner who starts Game 1. Verlander, who won the American League pitching Triple Crown, was 24-5 this season with a 2.40 earned run average and 250 strikeouts. He is 12-0 with a 2.59 ERA since his last loss July 15.
However, Verlander was 0-0 in two starts against the Yankees this year, with six runs in 12 innings. The Yanks start their ace in CC Sabathia. He was 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA during the regular season and was 0-1 in two starts against the Tigers. Over his career, Sabathia is 15-12 against Detroit with a 4.55 ERA. He had quality starts in seven of his last 10 outings this season, but his ERA was 4.06, his OPS against .858. In five of those outings, he allowed 10 hits.
The Yankees and Tigers opened the season in late March at Yankee Stadium with Sabathia and Verlander on the mound. The Yankees won that game, 6-3. Verlander gave up three runs and three hits in six innings Opening Day. On May 2 in Detroit, Verlander again went six innings against the Yankees in which he gave up three runs and eight hits. He issued four walks but didn’t get a decision in a 5-3 Yankees win.
The general feeling among baseball scouts is that if the Yankees can beat Verlander in Game 1, the ALDS is theirs. That remains to be seen because there are big questions hovering over Yanks Game 2 starter Ivan Nova and Game 3 starter Freddy Garcia.
Most would give the huge lineup edge to New York. But with the addition of Delmon Young and the emergence of catcher Alex Avila, the Tigers’ lineup has the same kind of depth and strength as the Yankees’ lineup. The Yankees outscored the Tigers this season, but since Young arrived in mid-August, the Tigers have averaged more runs per game than the Yankees did for the season. Since Young arrived, the Tigers have a .305 batting average and have averaged six runs per game. The Yankees averaged 5.4 runs this season.
And Tigers relievers Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde have become an almost invincible lockdown combination in the eighth and ninth innings. The Tigers have lost one game this season they led in the eighth inning or later — and that was May 1. They haven’t lost a game they led in the ninth inning or later. The Yankees, however, have a duo just as good in David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, who is almost unhittable in his postseason career.
The Detroit Tigers don’t have a player who combines so much power with above-average speed as former Tiger Curtis Granderson does. He hit 41 homers, second-most in the league, and had 119 RBIs, most in the league. Granderson gives the Yankees the big power threat in the No. 2 spot the Tigers haven’t had since Brennan Boesch was lost for the season with thumb surgery.
The Tigers won four of the seven games the teams played this year, including three of the four games played at Comerica Park.
Bet on Tigers vs Yankees MLB Baseball ALDS games with Wager Web Sportsbook, click here!
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alex avila - brennan boesch - cc sabathia - comerica park - curtis granderson - cy young - david robertson - delmon young - detroit tigers - freddy garcia
