Yanks Take on Oswalt
The Houston Astros are hoping that Roy Oswalt lasts longer than he did in his first start against the New York Yankees, but they’d sure like to have a similar result from that outing.
Oswalt looks to remain perfect at home in his career in interleague play Sunday when the struggling Astros try to avoid a three-game sweep by the Yankees.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made New York -127 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 70% of bets for this game have been placed on New York -127 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
This is only the second series between these teams, but the first one at Yankee Stadium featured a memorable game – the only victory for the Astros (33-36) in five all-time meetings against the Yankees. Oswalt (5-6, 5.06 ERA) started against New York (36-33) on June 11, 2003, but strained his groin and left after pitching just one inning.
The Astros used five relievers to complete a remarkable no-hitter in an 8-0 victory. The six pitchers used in a combined no-hitter were a major league record and New York was held hitless for the first time since 1958.
Oswalt, though, is enduring the worst season of his eight-year career, but he had one of his best outings of the season Tuesday. He gave up one run over seven innings in a 6-1 win over Milwaukee for his first victory since May 12.
The right-hander had been 0-3 with a 6.12 ERA in his last four outings.
"I thought he threw the ball exceptionally well tonight," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "He was vintage Roy tonight."
Oswalt is 5-0 with a 3.22 ERA in nine career interleague home starts.
The Yankees will counter with Chien-Ming Wang (7-2, 4.30), who will try to remain perfect on the road. He’s 4-0 with a 2.38 ERA in six road starts this year, and 13-2 with a 4.01 ERA in his last 19 outings away from home.
Wang started this six-game road trip Tuesday by surrendering one run in 7 1-3 innings in a 3-1 victory at Oakland. The right-hander won for the first time since May 2 after being tagged for 23 earned runs over his previous four starts.
"This is a big help for my confidence," Wang said. "I trusted my pitches. I sped up my arm and I felt more like myself."
Wang has never faced the Astros and is 0-2 with a 5.30 ERA in three career interleague road starts.
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The Yankees moved a season-high three games over .500 with their third straight win, 8-4 on Saturday. Melky Cabrera, Wilson Betemit and Jose Molina each finished with two RBIs apiece as New York overcame Carlos Lee’s three-run homer for Houston in the first inning.
New York’s Hideki Matsui did not start Saturday, grounding into a double play as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. The left fielder is hitting .377 (29-for-77) with 13 RBIs over his last 21 games.
Houston has lost four straight and 13 of its last 16 games. The Astros won 17 of their first 24 games in May before this current stretch.
"It’s really tough now," Lee said. "We were playing so well in May and it seemed like May went away and we went away."
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