New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics Prediction: Can Paul Blackburn Limit the Yankees Early?
New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics Prediction: Can Paul Blackburn Limit the Yankees Early?
How do you feel today if you are a fan of the New York Yankees? The "glass half full" approach suggests the team navigated a difficult 13-game stretch against the Rays, Blue Jays, and Astros and walked out with a 9-4 record. In addition, New York's 53-20 record is the third-best of any team since 1930 through the first 73 games, and it is still on pace to break the all-time regular-season wins record.
On the other hand, the "glass half empty" view suggests the Yankees went 16 consecutive innings against the Astros without a hit, which tied the longest streak of any team in the expansion era. And if not for two instances of late-game heroics from Aaron Judge and the rest of the lineup, Houston would have walked out of town with a four-game road sweep.
The Yankees, in theory, get a reprieve from a demanding schedule when they welcome Major League Baseball's worst team, the 25-49 Oakland Athletics, to town. However, for as poor as Oakland has played this year, the A's are a competitive 17-21 on the road.
Will the Yankees again dominate at home and improve their home record to 17-2 in the last 19? Or will Oakland be competitive using the same formula Houston's pitchers used to frustrate Yankees hitters?
Read on for our prediction, best play, and the odds for Monday's series opener between the Athletics and Yankees.
Bet $10, Win $200 on any MLB Moneyline
Yankees vs. Athletics Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds
- Date: June 27, 2022
- Game Time: 7:05 pm ET
- Where to Watch: YES Network, NBCSC, MLB.TV, MLB Extra Innings
Click Here for Yankees vs Athletics Odds
Yankees vs. Athletics Line Movement
New York Yankees Oakland Athletics Prediction
Oakland comes into this series with the momentum of taking two out of three games against Kansas City and snapping an eight-series losing streak. Oakland has had a tough stretch of going 9-30 in its last 39 games but is coming off back-to-back wins for the first time since May 24-25.
The Athletics send their best pitcher to the mound in this series opener, Paul Blackburn (6-3, 2.97). Blackburn has by far the best HR/9 rate of any of Oakland's starting pitchers, as he has allowed just five home runs in 75.2 innings of work. That will come in handy against a feast or famine Yankees lineup, who can score runs in bunches, as evidenced by their 14 runs in the Astros series, 13 of which came via the home run.
The Yankees went through a stretch where they were 0-for-52 over the weekend before Giancarlo Stanton ended the streak with a mammoth home run. In the last seven days, only DJ Lemahieu (.273) is hitting better than .250 for the Yankees, while ten of their main players are hitting under .200. To sum up how boom-or-bust they have been of late, Aaron Judge and Stanton have three homers apiece in 57 combined plate appearances but are batting just .192 and .120, respectively.
Given how much damage the Yankees can do to bullpens, we limit our bets to a slew of first five innings plays. We expect Blackburn to keep New York in the yard and limit the powerful Yankees lineup, so Oakland's first five innings runline, the first five innings total, and New York's first five innings team total make the most sense and play well off each other.
New York Yankees Oakland Athletics Picks
- Oakland Athletics +0.5 Runs-First Five Innings (+145) (Bet $100 to win $145)
- First Five Innings Total UNDER 4.5 Runs (-110) (Bet $110 to win $100)
- New York Yankees Team Total UNDER 2.5 Runs- First Five Innings (+105) (Bet $100 to win $105)
Looking for the best sportsbook offers? Check out the free bets page