New York Yankees at Oakland Athletics Betting Preview/Player Prop

The Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees begin a series on Thursday night that will have huge playoff implications in the American League. Both teams are currently in a tight race for the two Wild Card positions, and this series will affect that race.

The New York Yankees have now won 10 straight games, and they come to the West Coast extremely hot. New York has improved its record to 74-52 on the year, and this team has really started to take off since the All-Star Break.

Oakland is heading in the opposite direction as New York, having lost four straight games. The Athletics are still 70-57 on the year, but they need to turn things around in a hurry to get back into the playoff race.

The New York Yankees are the betting favorites at -115 on the moneyline to begin the four-game series.

Yankees Getting Some Pitching

The offense of the Yankees has been getting plenty of attention lately, but it has actually been the pitching staff leading the way. New York has not given up more than five runs in any of the last five games, and that is going to lead to plenty of success.

Jameson Taillon will take the mound on Thursday night, and he has been pitching well of late. Taillon has an 8-4 record up to this point, and he also sports a solid 3.94 earned run average.

Aaron Judge continues to provide plenty of power for the Yankees, leading the team with 27 home runs and a .285 batting average. The addition of Anthony Rizzo has also added some depth to this lineup and allowed the team to take off.

Athletics Struggling to Score

Oakland has had trouble scoring runs all season long, and that has really been the case of late. The Athletics have scored just ten total runs in the last four games, and that’s not going to be good enough to win.

Matt Olson leads the team with 32 home runs and 82 RBIs, but he has not been getting a ton of help. This team needs to find a way to generate some offense, but they will be facing a solid starting pitcher.

Oakland is sending James Kaprielian to the mound on Thursday night, and they need to find a way to slow down the Yankees. Kaprielian is 7-4 with a 3.25 ERA this season, and he will need to deliver a dominating performance.

Yankees Blow Out Athletics

Oakland has gone just 35-29 at home this season, and they have really struggled at late. The Athletics are going to get things back on track soon, but this is not the team that they wanted to see coming to town.

The Yankees are going to suffer a loss at some point, but this is not going to be the game to do it. New York is simply too hot at the plate right now, and they also have a huge edge in the pitching matchup.

Bet the New York Yankees -3.5 on Thursday night as they blow out the Oakland Athletics to begin this four-game series.

Player Prop

DJ LeMahieu (-280) Over 0.5 Hits

It’s not surprising that the Yankees longest winning streak in 36 years has LeMahieu right in the middle of it. His two-run HR in the fifth inning on Tuesday gave New York the lead in a 5-4 victory over the Braves that stretched the winning streak to 11.

LeMahieu’s numbers this year (.268 average, 9 HRs) are off from last year (.364, 10) and 2019 (.327, 26), but he’s still finding ways to be productive for the Bronx Bombers. He has picked it up in August (.278 average, 25 hits) after slumping for much of July (.241, 19). And he’s actually been a more consistent threat on the road (.280 average, 16 2Bs) than at home (.257, 5).

With New York continuing to turn its season around, we’ll stick with LeMahieu (-280) to stay productive tonight in Oakland and pick up a hit.

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