Baseball Betting Picks: New York Yankees at Atlanta Braves

Added on Jun 11, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

For some reason the public perception is that there’s something of a rivalry between the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees when, in actuality, they haven’t even played each other in the past three years. Still, it’ll be a big event at Atlanta’s Turner Field when the ‘Bronx Bombers’ come to town. Atlanta took 2 of 3 from the Yankees’ divisional rivals in the AL East the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend while the Yankees swept the New York Mets.

New York Yankees at Atlanta Braves
June 11, 2012 4:10 PM Pacific

Both teams have been red hot lately winning 8 of their last 10 games. Atlanta has drawn to within 2 games of NL East leading Washington while the Yankees are 1/2 game behind AL East leading Tampa Bay. To use a boxing metaphor for this series it’s a classic ‘contrast in styles’–the Braves have been winning with pitching and defense, while the Yankees have used their powerful offense to make up for their lack of a dominant starting rotation.

New York’s starter in this game, Ivan Nova, is a good example of how the Yankees have won games this year. Nova’s numbers are far from impressive–he’s got a 5.09 ERA overall and a 4.78 road ERA. Yet the Yankees have won 9 of his 11 starts this season including all five on the road. Atlanta’s Randall Delgado has better numbers but the net result hasn’t been as effective–Delgado has a 4.26 ERA overall and a 3.24 ERA at Turner Field. The Braves have lost 6 of his 11 starts and 3 of his 5 assignments at home.

This is a good matchup for the fans but in our view the Yankees are the better team. Some baseball betting experts handicap Interleague play simply by looking for good opportunities to play the American League over the National League due to the perception that the AL is superior top to bottom. This may not be the case, but in this matchup today the Braves don’t have a qualitative edge on the mound and we give the Yankees the edge at the plate. Atlanta’s offense is also a bit banged up with injuries at this point while most of the Yankees’ key run producers are in the lineup and playing well. Looking past the solid recent form of both teams we think the Yankees are just the better team overall and should win two of three–if not sweep–this early week series. They’ll get it started today as they stay perfect on the road when Ivan Nova starts.

Bet New York Yankees (Nova) -105 over Atlanta Braves (Delgado)