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The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics will finish up a four-game series on Sunday Night Baseball. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Yankees-Athletics prediction and pick.
Both of these teams have so much at stake in every game they play. The Yankees used a 13-game winning streak to propel themselves into contention in the AL East as well as the top wild-card spot in the AL. New York is poised to make the postseason, but the Athletics are on the outside looking in. They trail the Houston Astros in the AL West by 6.5 games and trail the last wild card seed by 3.5 games. Oakland needs to start stringing together wins in order to keep their playoff hopes alive, and that starts on Sunday night on national television.
Here's how the bookmakers have set the lines for Sunday's game.
MLB Odds: Yankees-Athletics Odds
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New York Yankees ML (-133)
Oakland Athletics ML (+123)
Over 9 runs (-110)
Under 9 runs (-110)
Why The Yankees Could Cover The Spread
New York has built one of the best offenses in the MLB that deserves plenty of credit, but the bats often leave the pitching rotation overshadowed. The Yankees will have one of the better members of that rotation on the mound Sunday in Jordan Montgomery.
Montgomery has had a surprisingly solid season, earning himself a 3.69 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Those are both great numbers, but they get even better over Montgomery's last seven appearances. Over that span, the lefty has posted a 2.61 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Montgomery is clearly on a hot streak, and that should continue against the Athletics for a couple of reasons.
The A's are actually a much worse offensive team when they play at home, as they earn a lower batting average, slugging percentage, OBP, and OPS whenever they play in the RingCentral Coliseum. Montgomery has also faced the Athletics once this season, posting five innings of one-run ball in the process. He should be able to improve on that performance in this game.
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
Oakland fields one of the more well-rounded teams in baseball. Their offense ranks in the middle of the league in most major batting stats, doing enough to supplement one of the more solid rotations in baseball. A fairly new member of that rotation will take the mound Sunday as Paul Blackburn faces the Yankees.
Blackburn has only made two starts this season, but both of them were pretty solid. There are also a couple of factors that help the young pitcher in this matchup. The Yankees are a much worse offense against right-handed pitching, as they see a drop in batting average, OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage against righties as opposed to lefties. New York also experiences a dip in their OBP and slugging percentage when they play on the road.
The A's have a tough matchup in Jordan Montgomery, but they do have one statistical advantage over the Yankees starter. Oakland is a better offensive team when they play a lefty, earning higher batting stats across the board. It may not be much, but it does help inspire a little bit of confidence in an offense that has been ice cold recently.
Final Yankees-Athletics Prediction & Pick
It's surprising to see the Yankees favored by so little in this game. New York has the pitching advantage and the superior lineup. They also have the privilege of facing a starter who is making his third appearance of the season. Lock in the Yankees without hesitation in this one.
FINAL PICK: New York Yankees ML (-133)
