I haven’t posted a free pick up here in ages; tonight seems like an opportune time to do so. Here’s a solid Friday Night opinion as the Yankees travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles:
New York @ Baltimore (Sabathia vs. Guthrie)
CC Sabathia has not lived up to his big fat free agent contract that he signed with the Yankees this past offseason. Since his rookie season back in 2001, Sabathia has never been a particularly consistent hurler prior to last year’s late season dominance with the Brewers. That inconsistency has been on full display through the first five weeks here in 2009.
In his last three starts, Sabathia has been shelled, allowing 16 runs in 21.2 innings of work. Baltimore battered him for six runs in 4.1 innings back on opening day here at Camden Yards. The Yankees relievers behind Sabathia have been a disaster, ranked 28th out of 30 MLB teams in bullpen ERA. Facing a hot hitting Orioles lineup that ranks among the Top 10 teams in runs scored this year, we can expect Baltimore to put up runs in bunches this evening.
Meanwhile, the Yankees offense gets an enormous boost today with A-Rod’s return to the lineup. They just pounded out 37 runs on their seven game homestand, bad news for struggling Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie’s last quality start came back on April 11th, with an ERA over 6.00 in his last four trips to the hill while allowing twice as many hits (28) as strikeouts (14) during that span. The mediocre bullpen behind Guthrie gives us ample opportunity for a late inning barrage of scoring. Ride the Yanks 18-9 run to the Over this season one more time tonight!
Take the Over 9.5
