A’s vs. Yankees Preview
NEW YORK (AP) – The Oakland Athletics finally ended their long losing streak against the New York Yankees in the last meeting. It’s still been quite awhile since they’ve beaten New York two straight times.
They’ll look to do that for the first time in more than four years when the teams complete a three-game series Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog have made the Yankees -165 money line favorites for Sunday’s game against the A’s. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 80% of more than 737 bets for this game have been placed on the Yankees -165.
Oakland (44-56) snapped its 11-game skid versus New York with a 4-3 victory Saturday, beating the Yankees for the first time since April 22, 2010. Josh Willingham and former Yankee Hideki Matsui homered for the A’s, who have won four of their last six overall.
“Obviously, you don’t want to let something like that linger on too long,” reliever Grant Balfour said. “Sounds like it had already gone far enough.”
Oakland hasn’t beaten New York in back-to-back games since June 30 and July 1, 2007, going 5-25 in the series since.
Despite the two homers Saturday, Oakland’s 56 long balls are the fewest in the AL and its .238 average is only better than Seattle.
They provided little resistance for the Yankees in the first four meetings this season. Despite Saturday’s loss, the Yankees (58-40) have outscored the A’s 39-16 in five 2011 matchups and have won 15 of 17 in the series overall.
Nick Swisher had five RBIs and Mark Teixeira added four in Friday’s 17-7 rout in the series opener, and each drove in a run Saturday.
Derek Jeter has five hits in the series and is batting .378 since July 9 – the day of his 3,000th hit. He’s 9 for 18 versus Oakland this season, but he was stranded on base four times Saturday.
“We ran out of innings,” Swisher said. “(Starting pitcher) A.J. (Burnett) and the guys did a good job of keeping us in it, we just couldn’t score runs.”
Gio Gonzalez (9-6, 2.33 ERA) hopes to continue that trend, and he’s played a large role in Oakland leading the AL with a 3.29 ERA.
The left-hander has allowed three or fewer earned runs in 16 of 19 starts after pitching seven scoreless innings in last Sunday’s 9-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. He’s 4-1 with a 1.62 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 39 innings over his last six outings.
Gonzalez ranks fourth in the AL in ERA, though he’s yet to find much success against the Yankees. He’s 1-3 with a 6.33 ERA in four career starts versus New York, including a 4-2 loss June 1 when he allowed four runs in 6 1-3 innings.
Teixeira is 4 for 11 with two doubles and a homer against Gonzalez.
New York, 5-5 since the All-Star break, will counter with veteran Bartolo Colon (6-6, 3.34), who is looking to snap a three-start losing streak.
After failing to make it out of the first inning of a 16-7 loss at Toronto on July 14, Colon pitched better Tuesday at Tampa Bay but lost 3-2. He gave up three runs – one earned – in 6 1-3 innings, striking out a season-high nine.
Facing the A’s may help him do even better.
Colon’s best outing of the season came May 30, when he pitched a four-hit shutout at Oakland. It marked Colon’s first shutout since July 5, 2006, when he blanked Seattle.
He may have to pitch carefully to David DeJesus, who is 11 for 35 with two homers, three doubles and a triple in his career against Colon.
The right-hander is 7-5 with a 3.40 ERA in 16 career starts versus the A’s dating back to 1998.
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