I think the Yankees are in for a disappointing West Coast road trip

In the first two games of this series, Yankees starters Domingo German and J.A. Happ gave up 5 earned runs each, which was enough scoring by the A's to stick each of them with a richly-deserved "L" on their respective records, German falling to 16-3 and Happ dropping to 10-8. What scary hurler do the Yankees have up next?  It's the highly respected Masahiro Tanaka, who happens to be enduring a poor season for the Yankees for the second time in his 6 years wearing the pinstripes. Come to think of it, I wouldn't blame him if he secretly wished he could wear the pinstripes all the time.  That's because his ERA this season is eerily similar to his uneven 2017 season. Check this out...

In 2017, Tanaka's ERA was 4.74, a very good 3.22 at Yankee Stadium but a quite awful 6.48 on the road.  This season, his ERA is 4.56, again a very good 3.26 at home, and again 6.48 on the road.  When I said his 2017 and 2019 ERAs were 'eerily similar", I wasn't overstating it, was I?

In fairness to Tanaka, however, I would like to take the liberty of throwing out one of his bad 2019 road starts.  That's because it took place in that weird stadium in London that played like a pinball machine.  On that Saturday back on June 29th, neither Tanaka nor the Red Sox' Rick Porcello made it out of the 1st inning. Porcello got lit up in the top of the 1st for 6 runs while recording only one out.  When it happened to him, few in the crowd blinked, because although British sports fans are unfamiliar with baseball, it's universally understood around the world that Rick Porcello sucks. Porcello hurriedly left the field as fans showered him with derisive calls such as "You really cock'd that one up, ya bloody wank-ah!" But, when the same thing happened to Tanaka in the bottom of the 1st inning, the most common word rippling through the crowd was "Blimey!" The locals understood baseball to be a game of nine "innings", but this first inning ludicrously took an entire hour to complete!  Fans were growing more convinced that Americans were one sandwich short of a picnic.

Anyways, if you throw out Tanaka's two-thirds of an inning at London Stadium, his road ERA this season is 5.62, almost the same as Domingo German's which was 5.58 entering Tuesday night's game (and is now 5.82). Of Tanaka's 10 road starts in American stadiums, only four resulted in quality starts, and three of those took place in April and May.  I excused his dog's dinner in London, but his July 25th start in Fenway Park can't be overlooked.  Tanaka was left in the game for 87 pitches as he absorbed a 12-hit and 12-run pounding. Bottom line is that since the beginning of June, Tanaka's 5 road starts have resulted in a 7.76 ERA for him, but only two losses for the Yankees.  The good news for Yankees fans is that Tanaka has just put together back-to-back quality starts for the first time in two months, shutting down the Blue Jays 1-0 in Toronto and doing just enough to defeat the Indians last weekend 3-2.

Tonight will be Masahiro Tanaka's first start against the A's in over two years, when he lasted just 4 innings while allowing 8 hits and 5 earned runs in a 5-2 loss in Oakland.

Thank you sir

So Mr.Bator is your pick the A's or Yankees? 

how about you actually read his posts?

MrBator,

How much money has this Oakland team made you over the last month or two?

For me, it's been pretty substantial but I imagine for you it's probably enormous. 

I refer you to posts #118 and #120.

GOOD LUCK TONIGHT MB

Any other action fine sir?

You meant either, not neither, and you meant the latter, not the former, and Liam Hendriks threw only 18 pitches in recording his dominant 5-out save.  You better believe he's available tonight.

And you meant Petit, not Pettite, and Hendriks, not Hendricks.  I'm sorry, but that's too many errors to take your opinion seriously as far as tonight's matchup goes.  Are you trying to drive me nuts? Don't turn me into the Grammar Police!  It's a job I love but many people seem to hate it.

Yes, I'm on the Indians +125 and -1.5 +200.  The Indians haven't lost three games in a row since late May.  Check it out...

The Indians lost straight three games on May 25th, 26th, and 27th, dropping the last two games of a home series to the Rays and then losing a series opener in Boston. The next night they defeated the Red Sox 7-5.

On May 30th and 31st, they lost the first two games of a 4-game series in Chicago.  The next night they defeated the White Sox 5-2.

On June 28th and 29th, the most baffling series of the entire 2019 season took place.  The Indians lost the opener in Baltimore 13-0, leaving the baseball world stupefied.  The next night, impossibly, they again lost 13-0.  The baseball world was slack-jawed.  The Indians righted the ship in the series finale, avoiding the sweep by defeating the Orioles 2-0.

On July 12th and 13th, the Indians began the season's second half by losing a pair of home games to the Twins.  The next night they avoided the sweep with a 4-3 win.

On July 28th, the Indians went for a 4-game sweep in Kansas City and missed, losing 9-6.  After an off day, they returned home and got shut down by Verlander and the Astros, 2-0.  The next night they blasted the Astros 10-4 on the strength of three 3-run homers.

Last week, the Indians lost the last two games of a 3-game series at home to the Red Sox.  The next night, they scored 7 runs in the top of the 1st in the Bronx and went on to disembowel the Yankees, 19-5. The Indians then dropped a pair of 1-run games on Friday and Saturday.  On Sunday, they jumped all over C.C. Sabathia and rolled to an easy 8-4 win.

On Tuesday night the Indians got rolled 9-2 by the Mets.  Last night, the Indians gave away a close one with a defensive botch in the bottom of the 10th. Tonight the Mets will go for the sweep but I don't see them completing this one.  Everyone knows the Mets are en fuego and that they've won 12 of their last 13 home games, but don't forget that 8 of those 12 wins were against cupcake opponents visiting from San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Miami.

Twelve days ago, the Mets pulled off a comeback against the Nationals that was much like last night's.  They scored twice in their last at-bat to win 4-3.  The next day, with Jake deGrom starting and everyone backing them, the Mets flopped badly in their attempt for a third straight series sweep at Citi Field.  They lost 7-4.

Cleveland's Aaron Civale has only made 4 major league starts, but he's pitched exactly 6 innings in each of them while allowing a total of just 17 hits and 4 earned runs. He's pitched in front of 37,849 in Minnesota and 45,015 in Yankee Stadium last Friday, so I don't expect him to pee his pants here.

You're forgiven for any grammatical nitpicks if English is not your first language.  Your input on the Yankees is of value.

Hendriks has not pitched three nights in a row this season, and if he pitches tonight, he still will not have pitched three nights in a row. I agree that we're unlikely to see Yusmeiro Petit out there for a third straight game.

Mr. B is so kind to post his plays. He's a sports bettors best friend. Sometimes he actually loses a play.....very rarely....sometimes. If no one bashes him when he loses he will stick around and help all of us make money. I believe he tired of the nonsensical BS in the form of bashing he received here in the past and, for the most, part stopped posting for quite sometime. Moral of the story, don't be a basher and quietly follow along with praise. Thanks Mr. B

Thanks, best_bets.  I actually don't mind bashing at all. It takes more than to hurt me.  It takes unpaid debts to hurt me.  That hurts me a lot.