World Series Game 1: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees
Fans in Boston or L.A. might disagree, but the World Series this year clearly matches the two best teams in baseball in Philadelphia and the Yankees, meaning we might finally see a Fall Classic – something we haven’t in a handful of years.
The Yankees are -210 money line favorites for the series on WagerWeb.com.
Of course the Phillies get an extra bat during the games in New York with the designated hitter, and that bat will be Ben Francisco’s in Game 1. The former Indian hit .278 with five home runs in only 97 at-bats as a Phillie this season. He’s probably going to play left field with Raul Ibanez serving as the designated hitter against Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia. Francisco has been used as a defensive replacement for Ibanez in late innings during the postseason.
If you go by the slugging first basemen in this series, then the Phillies would seem to have the edge.
Philly’s Ryan Howard has been on a tear since late in the regular season, and he has 14 RBIs in just playoffs nine games. He hit .333 with two homers in the NLCS against the Dodgers and also drew six walks. The Yankees’ Mark Teixeira led the American League in home runs, RBIs and total bases during the regular season. But he is hitting just .205 with a homer and five RBIs in the playoffs. That homer did beat the Twins in Game 2 of the ALDS, and his three-run double started the Yankees’ comeback in Game 5 of the ALCS.
The pitching matchup in Game 1 is fascinating – for fans of the Cleveland Indians. It matches former Tribe Cy Young winners CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee. Cleveland traded Sabathia to Milwaukee before the 2008 trade deadline (and he signed with New York this offseason). The Indians dealt Lee right before the deadline this year.
Lee is 4-4 with a 5.02 ERA in nine career starts against the Yankees, but is 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in his last three against them. This postseason, his ERA is 0.74 – two earned runs in 24 1/3 innings.
New York is a -174 WagerWeb.com moneyline betting favorite for Game 1 behind Sabathia, who has been about as good as Lee this postseason, going 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA (three earned runs in 22 2/3 innings), 20 strikeouts and three walks. Sabathia faced the Phils during interleague play on May 24, allowing three runs in eight innings on nine hits. The Yankees lost that game, 4-3, in 11 innings.
MLB Betting at WagerWeb.com
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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