Oddsmakers Give Yankees Edge Over Angels In ALCS Game 4

Sports Betting News - October 20th, 2009 - Written by John

The ALCS is still a best-of-seven series. Seven long possibilities with thousands of opportunities, making a two-game deficit unpleasant, yes, but not insurmountable. The Los Angeles Angels reminded the baseball world of that, asserting themselves back in the race for the American League pennant on Monday.

They avoided the possibility of a sweep when they beat the New York Yankees in extra innings, 5-4, to get the series to 2-1. The Angels were down 3-0 after the first five innings, but managed to chip away at the lead until Maicer Izturis sac fly gave them their first lead of the game in the seventh. Jeff Mathis then hit the game-winner in the 11th inning, ripping a double to the left field wall to score Howie Kendrick, sending the team desperate for life into hysterics. It snapping a six-game losing streak in the ALCS.

Los Angeles will try to even the series tonight, when they put Scott Kazmir on the mound for Game Four. The Yankees are favored by 1 1/2 runs, at BetUS Sportsbook , with an over/under of eight according to their MLB Betting Lines. There are several different ways to approach the line, however. The sportsbook offers two alternate run lines, creating vastly different payouts. If bettors think less of the Angels chances, try buying another run. One of the alternate line allows Los Angeles to gain 2 1/2 runs, with a lower payout of -250. Taking the Yankees + 2 1/2 increases the reward to +180. For those sipping on the Angels' Kool-Aid, can take a risk by switching the favorite, instead giving the Yankees +1 1/2 runs. That yields a greater reward, turning a +110 payout (as the underdog) into +220 return.

For Los Angeles to hit, Kazmir will need to pitch well on one of the most pressure-filled stages he's encountered since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays at the tail end of the season. But it's not like he hasn't been in this position before. After all, it was just last year when the Rays made their improbable run to beat the heavily favored Boston Red Sox in the ALCS and book a trip to the World Series.

He will surely have to exorcise some demons, however. He did struggle in last year's playoffs, going 1-1 with a 4.21 ERA in five starts according to archived MLB Stats. In his one start in this postseason, he was roughed up for five runs in six innings against Boston, although the team eventually bailed him out with three runs in the ninth to win the game and the series. Making a quick start tonight all the more crucial to providing a quality outing.

The Yankees will see the fruits of their decision to stick with a three-man rotation this series, throwing out C.C. Sabathia to pitch after three days of rest. Joe Girardi will hand the burly lefty the ball in attempt to stop the bleeding before it even really starts. He has been their best pitcher all year and all postseason, winning both of his two starts with 15 strikeouts and only two earned runs. Although he has a rocky history pitching on short rest, he was paid $160 million over the off-season for starts like this one.

He went eight innings in Game One against Los Angeles and the Yankees could really use a long outing. In all, seven relievers were used in Monday night's extra inning affair, including a 13-batter standoff by Mariano Rivera. The ramifications from another long call to the bullpen might be costly as the series continues.

“We’ll just watch carefully like we would any other start, and make sure that location is there and physically he feels fine and doesn’t have any long innings,” Girardi said on Yahoo! Sports. “As far as the pitch count, I would have no problem letting him go 110, 115 if that’s what it took.

“But more, you look at the results and how he’s throwing.”

Vladimir Guerrero finally broke out of his slump on Monday. He was 2-for-11 in the first two games of the ALCS, but hit a crucial two-run homer that tied the game at 3-all. He has a career .200 batting average against Sabathia with one homer.

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