New York Yankees (10-6) vs Texas Rangers (13-4)
It looks like the Yankees have done something everyone else has failed to in this young season – make Texas look beatable.
New York Yankees (10-6) vs Texas Rangers (13-4)
Tuesday April 24
Ballpark at Arlington – Arlington, TX
8:05PM
Moneyline: Texas -140, New York +130
O/U: 10
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 5.00 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Yu Darvish (2-0, 3.57 ERA)
New York
New York got a fantastic start from C.C. Sabathia to open the series at Texas while pouncing on Rangers starter Derek Holland. Several Yankees are off to great starts including Derek Jeter who is hitting over .400 at the moment and Nick Swisher who leads the AL in runs batted in.
The Yankees will be looking for more good pitching from Huroki Kuroda who so far has not lived up to the investment they made in the offseason. I didn’t like the signing overall but I have to acknowledge that his poor overall numbers are hiding a dominant 8 innings of shutout ball against the Angels. He could be running into an angry lineup that was dominated the night before and is looking for some vengeance.
Texas
The Texas Rangers have the best record in the majors and have another series against a division leader in visiting New York. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Over the weekend they exercised some demons in taking 3 of 4 against Detroit on the road but lost a key cog in third baseman Adrian Beltre in the process. Beltre is suffering from a hamstring tweak but we are still waiting on the formal diagnosis. Without him the lineup is just not as strong.
There is just so much that Josh Hamilton can do. He and Matt Kemp seem to be intent on staging a great battle across the league for power supremacy and Hamilton went yard against Sabathia yesterday, impressive given the big lefty had owned him in the matchup.
Hamilton has never faced Kuroda but it remains to be seen whether that will be of advantage or not. On the hill for Texas, Japanese import Yu Darvish. His numbers are not spectacular but the Rangers have won all three of his starts.
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Texas 6 – New York 3
