Bombs Away – New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers

BetOnline MLB betting odds:  Yankees -140, Tigers +120, Total 9.5

CC Sabathia (1-1, 4.81 ERA) is the starter for the Yankees, and he’ll be opposed by fellow right-hander Justin Verlander (0-2, 9.00 ERA), who will try to have better luck this time around for the Bengals.

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

(Numbers go back to last season)

* NY has played four of its last six games UNDER the total

* NY has lost five of its last seven road games

* DET has won four of its last five home games

* DET has played seven of its last ten home games OVER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* DET has won six of the last eight meetings

* Three of the last four meetings have gone OVER the total

* DET has won seven of the last ten meetings as the home team

The last time CC Sabathia met up with the Tigers, it was an absolute disaster, as he gave up nine runs and thirteen base runners in a four-inning stint last April as a member of the Cleveland Indians. Sabathia had a damn good season when he switched leagues and went to the Milwaukee Brewers, as we know. He’s had two very good outing this year, but they were sandwiched by poor starts. One was the opener, when the Orioles lit him up for six runs in less than five innings. Last time out he gave up six runs in 6-2/3 against the light-hitting A’s.

Detroit has not had a lot of problems scoring runs at Comerica Park (eight per game, ranking first in the AL). They got their act together in the last two games of their trip to Kansas City, getting string pitching performances from Armando Galarraga and Zach Miner as they beat the Royals in back-to-back games. The Tigers have forged to the lead in the ultra-tight American League Central, where they are a game ahead of both the White Sox and Royals. They’ve won four out of five games at Comerica.

The Yankees, by virtue of the sweep at Fenway, find themselves at the .500 mark, four full games in back of Toronto and three behind the Red Sox.

Justin Verlander got rocked last time he faced the Yankees. That was on September 21, when the Bombers reached him for five runs on eight hits in just an inning and two-thirds. Of course, prior to that, in 2007, he sailed through seven innings of three-hit ball as the Tigers won 16-0.

The Yankee bullpen is awful, with an ERA of 6.47 ERA. The finger-pointing has started. Heads will roll. New York allows almost 6.9 runs a game, which is last in the AL. Detroit’s home ERA is 7.70, which is worst in the league. This spells an "over" in the BetOnline Sportsbook.  

JAY’S PLAY:  OVER 9.5 (Even) ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)