New York Yankees (29-23)  AT Oakland A’s (27-28)
May 31, 2011 at 10:05 PM EST
Opening Moneyline:  OAK -125, NYY +105
Current Moneyline:  OAK -125, NYY +104
Opening Total:  7
Current Total:  7

SP:  NYY- F. Garcia; OAK- B. Anderson

Things haven’t went well for the A’s against the Yankees.  They are facing their third consecutive shutout against the A’s and have lost the last 8 meetings between the teams.  Yet, for a strange reason, they find themselves as slight favorites over the Yankees in tonight’s matchup.  Over the last eight games, Oakland has managed only 15 runs, while the Yankees have put up 49.  The last time the Yankees shut the A’s down three consecutive times was 1944.

“All I can say is we have two more games in this series,” A’s second baseman Mark Ellis remarked.

Freddy Garcia will be the one to make the magic if it’s going to happen for the Yankees.  It seems unlikely that a pitcher with a  6-7 record and a 5.30 ERA against the A’s (in 21 career starts) can make it happen, though.  He gave up five runs in 1 1/3rds innings on July 24th against the A’s as a member of the White Sox.  Who’s to say today will be any different for Garcia?

Working against the A’s, however, is the fact that they are second in the AL for being shutout, as they have been held scoreless six times already this season.

Brett Anderson will take the mound for the A’s.  He’s 3-4 this season with a 2.84 ERA, but he has lost to the Yankees four times straight.  In his previous five starts prior to Thursday’s victory against the Angels, he was 0-3 with a 5.04 ERA.  Against the Angels, he shut them down for eight innings, before the bullpen almost blew the lead, but the Angels held on to win 4-3.

Anderson had an excellent year last season after returning from an elbow injury that kept him sidelined for the first part of the season.  He finished with a 2.80 ERA in 112 IP.  This season his PECOTA projections predict a 3.69 ERA and a 10-7 record.  It is just his third year in the majors this season, and he was quite the prospect after a great stint in the minors prior to 2009.

In his four starts against the Yankees, Anderson is 0-3 with a 4.68 ERA.  Both Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter have hit well against Anderson, going 12 of 26 and each have homered.

Some betting trends:

The total has gone OVER In 7 of the Yankees’ last 9 games and they are 9-4 SU in their last 13 games.  The Yankees are 5-2 SU in their last 7 road games and the total has gone UNDER in 7 of the last 10 matchups against the Oakland A’s.  The Yankees are 5-0 SU in their last 5 against Oakland and the total has gone UNDER in 5 of the last 6 on the road against Oakland.  The Yankees are 8-1 SU in their last 9 games against the A’s.

Oakland is 4-1 SU in their last 5 games and the total has gone UNDER in 7 of the A’s last 10 games against the Yankees.  Oakland is 0-5 SU in their last 5 against the Yankees.  The total has gone UNDER in 5 of the A’s last 6 home games against the Yankees and the A’s are 1-8 SU in their last 9 home games against the New York Yankees.

It is a bit perplexing to see the A’s favored (if only slightly) in this game.  Brett Anderson may be the reason why, but it’s difficult to imagine that he’ll be good enough to shut a Yankee team down that has had so much success against Oakland.