ALCS Game 5: New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels
It could be a pretty bad 24 hours for baseball fans in Los Angeles, as the Dodgers were eliminated in five games by the Phillies on Wednesday night in NLCS, and the Angels face the same fate Thursday night at the hands of the Yankees.
Los Angeles is a -140 money line betting favorite on WagerWeb.com to extend the series back to the Bronx.
Frankly, the Yankees are pretty much unbeatable with the way Alex Rodriguez is hitting. A-rod has shed that playoff monkey and is only one homer away from tying the Yankee record for long balls in one postseason (six), set by Bernie Williams in 1996. He is within reach of the all-time postseason record of eight. He has homered in each of the last three games, and overall is batting .407 with a .469 on-base percentage, and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
“It’s been as good as I can remember,’’ Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “What he’s been able to do so far in this postseason has been really pretty incredible.”
Against tonight’s starter, John Lackey, A-Rod is 9-for-51 all-time with four homers. Rodriguez’s surge is masking Mark Teixeria’s struggles. The AL’s home run and RBI champ in the regular season has one homer and one RBI in seven playoff games. In the ALCS, he has two singles in 18 at-bats, no runs and no RBIs to go with three walks.
“I’m obviously not hot right now,” he said. “You hope you’re on a hot streak when you get to the playoffs. It’s not happening for me now.”
The Halos need to get leadoff man Chone Figgins going as he is the catalyst to the entire offense. Figgins has been on base only four times and has yet to score in the four games. He went 0-for-8 against CC Sabathia in Games 1 and 4.
As for Lackey, this could be his final start as an Angel, as he is a free agent after the season. Lackey was outdueled by Sabathia in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, lasting 5 2/3 innings and giving up four runs (two earned) on nine hits and three walks, striking out three hitters. He is 5-7 in 16 regular season starts against the Yankees with a 4.66 ERA.
The Yanks counter with Game 2 starter A.J. Burnett. He allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings of an eventual no-decision. Burnett started once at Angel Stadium this year, striking out 11 and getting the win despite lasting only 5 2/3 innings. Because Burnett is pitching, that means starting catcher Jorge Posada will take a seat for backup Jose Molina.
MLB Betting at WagerWeb.com
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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#1 by Amber Jonson on October 22, 2009 - 1:32 pm
Let’s go Yankees, let’s go….Let’s go YANKEES, let’s go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck with the halos