Interleague Betting Preview
By Bodog
Baseball purists will disagree, but MLB struck gold in 1997 with the introduction of interleague play. More people pay attention when two teams from the same city are involved, or when you get a rare old-school matchup like we saw in 2004, when the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox played for the first time since the 1912 World Series. When more people pay attention, more people bet on baseball.
We’ll get our first dose of interleague ball for 2010 starting this Friday. It’s a small dose: just a quick three-game series before regular league play resumes. But there are enough compelling rivalry games to make sure your weekend sports jones doesn’t go unanswered. Here’s a look at the Top 5 interleague series on the menu.
1. New York Yankees at New York Mets
The term “Subway Series” first popped up in the New York papers in 1928; that was back when they had three teams, including the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Now the Yankees and Mets square off every year in interleague action. The Yankees (25-15, 4.41 units) are ahead 42-30 in this series, winning five of six last year and sweeping the Mets at Citi Field. Game 3 of this weekend’s set will be aired on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (8:05 p.m. ET) with CC Sabathia (3.43 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) throwing for the Yankees and Johan Santana (3.72 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) responding for the Mets. They’re last in the NL East at 19-22 and down 4.07 units against the MLB odds.
2. Boston Red Sox at Philadelphia Phillies
Except for the 1915 World Series, these two teams had never met before interleague play began, although the Philadelphia Athletics were charter members of the American League in 1901 along with the Boston Americans. The Red Sox are 22-15 versus the Phillies and 13-4 over the past five seasons. Philadelphia has the best record in the National League at 24-15 (1.98 units) and sends Roy Halladay (1.64 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) to the mound on Sunday against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (5.31 ERA, 1.28 WHIP), who makes his return to the starting rotation in place of the injured Josh Beckett. Boston is in fourth place in the AL East at 21-20 (-5.54 units).
3. Cincinnati Reds at Cleveland Indians
The Ohio Cup was a friendly preseason game played between the Reds and Indians from 1989 to 1996, with Cleveland winning six times. The two teams have faced each other every year since except for 2002; the Indians hold a 32-31 series lead, but the Reds are 9-3 over the past two seasons as the Cleveland rebuilding plan has stalled. The Tribe are still struggling at 15-23 (-5.36 units), ranking No. 23 in the majors with a .696 team OPS and No. 25 with a 1.52 WHIP. The Reds lead the NL Central at 23-17 (7.56 units), but only have a run differential of plus-2 on the season.
4. San Francisco Giants at Oakland Athletics
They met three times in the World Series back when it was New York versus Philadelphia, but this rivalry didn’t heat up until both teams moved out West. Oakland leads the Bay Bridge Series 39-35 and swept the Giants in the 1989 World Series for good measure. But in 2009, it was the Giants winning five of six against the floundering A’s. They’ll cross their fingers Sunday when they send Ben Sheets (5.66 ERA, 1.68 WHIP) to the mound. Sheets has reportedly added a cut fastball to his arsenal this month and the A’s have won two of his last three starts.
5. Baltimore Orioles at Washington Nationals
The Nationals moved south from Montreal in 2005, but the Beltway Series didn’t get underway until 2006 – the Expos move happened too quickly to reschedule their usual all-Canadian battle with the Toronto Blue Jays. Baltimore and Washington are tied at 12 wins apiece; the O’s took four of six from the Nats last year, but there are signs of life in the nation’s capital this year at 21-20 (10.29 units), while Baltimore has the worst record in the majors at 13-28 (-10.73 units). The O’s have decided to start No. 5 pitcher David Hernandez (5.84 ERA, 1.65 WHIP) in Friday’s series opener after he threw a side session on Tuesday to test his sore right shoulder. They’ve won just two of his seven starts this year.