MLB Baseball Betting: Los Angeles Angels at New York Yankees

With the Toronto Blue Jays’ game against the Baltimore Orioles currently ‘off the board’ for Thursday let’s take a look at a matchup involving their closest AL East rival. The New York Yankees are in fourth place in the division but just two games behind the Jays. On Thursday, they’ll host the Los Angels at Yankee Stadium.

New York has won three straight but in the bigger picture they’ve been ‘treading water’ having split their last ten games. On the season, they’re 29-30 but since none of the AL East teams have stepped forward to claim the division they’re still in the running. The Yankees are 6.5 games while the Blue Jays are 4.5 games back.

The Los Angeles Angels are a tough team to figure. Right now, they’re 26-33 and trying to stay out of the AL West basement (they’re one game up on last place Oakland). Here’s where it gets strange–the Angels have had the most trouble with opponents *under* .500. They’ve got a winning record against teams with winning records at 21-16 earning just under 9 units. Against sub .500 teams–which includes the Yankees at this point–they’re a brutal 5-17 -14 units. The Yankees, on the other hand, are 18-12 +4.9 units against opponents with losing records.

The pitching matchup involves a couple of players in good but not great form and who are capable of much more. The Angels will go with Jhoulys Chacin while the Yankees will counter with Ivan Nova. Both have ERA’s in the mid threes but have shown much better stuff at various points in their career.

One thing prevents this from being a ‘coin flip’ play on the underdog. The Yankees have brutalized the Angels in recent years. Over the past three seasons New York is 11-4 +7.4 units overall and 8-1 +6.9 units at home. The Yankees look like a team with more upside–they still have a realistic shot to make the postseason while the Angels would have to have a number of independent events work out in their favor. New York beat up on Los Angeles on Tuesday night and have won all three in this series. While the knee jerk reaction is to bet against the sweep the Yankees are the better team in this one.

BET NEW YORK YANKEES -135 OVER LOS ANGELES ANGELS