Bronx Bomber Ball

  Welcome back to the first BBBets in two weeks! I took a nice long break following a very rough 0-5 day of picks, the worst of which being a Braves moneyline bet in a game in which they ended up losing to the Padres 12-1. Before that day I was 7-2 in bets given out for a net positive of +3.59 units. After that day I am looking at 7-7 in bets that I’ve given out for a net negative of -1.31 units. One bad day ruins quite the promising start to the season. While I am slightly positive in all of my MLB bets this season (including the bets I hadn’t given out), I want to get my record back on track and move my net losses back into the net gains on my BBBets picks. With that said, let’s get to the bets.

After a not-so-fun opening weekend against Toronto, the Bombers have turned it around a little bit, taking two of three from the red hot Baltimore Orioles this week. The Yanks finally started to get the bats going, with some big contributions from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Pitching was strong as well all around, with possibly Gerrit Cole’s best start in pinstripes on Tuesday.

  Well that stunk. The Yankees got their season underway with a series loss against the Blue Jays this weekend. While their pitching was very solid and left reasons for optimism, it was a very frustrating weekend of hitting to watch. For most of the weekend, the Yankees had a lot of traffic on the bases, but were not able to cash in time and time again. The hits and the RBIs will eventually come but until then, lets look at what the Yankees have coming up. Credit: ESPN.com

After landing the biggest fish in Free Agency this past Winter, the Yankees enter 2020 as the clear favorites in the American League East.  That is not meant to suggest that they have no competition, however, as New York was not the only team to improve during the offseason, with the Rays making their usual under-the-radar moves that will help them win and the Blue Jays made a big splash signing with Hyun-Jin Ryu.  Let’s dive into the predictions. Photo Credit: New York Post

The Baltimore Orioles have, so far this season, proven an easy opponent -- as well they should be.  Of course, going into the season as the 2019 Yankees' first opponent of the year, the talk across the world of sports news was that the Orioles were in possession of one of the worst teams in MLB.  With a record of 15-31, and after dropping their most recent game 10-0 to the Cleveland Indians, they're certainly proving it.  While it's been an awfully convenient set of circumstances that has led the Yankees to easy teams in the midst of their unprecedented injury woes, the Orioles are beyond just an easy team.  They're terrible -- and even the "replacement" Yankees (who are proving to be quite the surprise force) have no excuse for losing.  In looking at the pitching matchups, there's only further evidence to the point that the Yankees should breeze through this series.  They've managed to make it to first place in the A.L. East foll...

Let's get this out of the way up front: the Yankees are a bad baseball team right now.  The good news? It's only six games into a 162 game marathon so there's plenty of time to right the ship.  The bad news? Half the projected starting lineup come midseason is currently on the Injured List and runs have been damn near impossible to come by. Faced with two of the worst teams in the sport to open the season, at home no less, the Yankees went 2-4 and struggled offensively in every game outside of Opening Day.  With the team set to hit the road for the first time in 2019, let's take a look at the rematch series on tap against the division rival Baltimore Orioles.

Having won five of their last six games, the Yankees looked to stay hot in game one of a Saturday double-header in Camden Yards. J.A. Happ took the hill for the Yanks and secured his fifth win in five starts with his new club. Happ ran into some trouble early, but the Yankee bats didn’t need any help today. They put a ten spot on the Orioles behind Miguel Andujar’s four RBI. The Yankees topped the O’s 10-2. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Following a series win against Toronto, the Yankees will face off against the Orioles in a four game series between division foes. The series will feature four games in three days, including a double header on July 9 to make up for a June matchup which was postponed due to inclement weather. The Yankees and Orioles haven’t faced off since June 2 and since that game the Orioles have only won seven games. The Yankees since that game have won twenty one games, tripling the Orioles total in that span. The Orioles are the division’s cellar dwellers and, frankly, the Yankees should easily take at least three games in this series and try to continue keeping pace with the Red Sox for the division lead.

After spending time on the DL with two hamstring injuries, Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka is expected to make a rehab start in Triple A this week with Scranton before possibly returning to the rotation in the Yankees’ upcoming series against Baltimore, as Brian Cashman said Tanaka returning to face Baltimore is “the best case scenario”. Tanaka’s return will mark the end of a rookie’s rotation spot, as Tanaka will replace one of either Jonathan Loaisiga or Domingo German. Photo Credit: Brad Mills | USA Today Sports

Through nine games in the 2018 season, the old saying “the house always wins” has proven to be more correct in this blog, than maybe anywhere else. With every cold streak comes a hot one, and I think that hot streak starts today. The Yankees looked great yesterday, as they do almost every time this blog does not pick them outright. Photo Credit: Paul J. Bereswill

The worst component about betting on the favored team against the spread is the potential of extra innings. The home team needs one run to win, this blog needed two. Obviously being a fan of the Yankees comes first, so I would easily have taken another loss for BBB Betting Tips if it meant a Yankee win. Unfortunately, while we were looking for a win-win, it ended in the heartbreak of a 14th inning loss - a total lose-lose. Photo Credit: Andy Marlin/USA TODAY Sports

Last night, an Aaron Judge home run in the sixth felt like the start of something huge. In a spectacular pitching duel, Judge was the first to break through. More runs were certain to follow. Unfortunately, those runs came from the Baltimore offense and the Yankees got embarrassed, falling to a team that came into the game at 1-5. Note to future self: when tee-ball Tanaka is on the mound, think twice before assuming Yankees would win in a blowout. Photo Credit: Julie Jacobson/AP

Yesterday was the kind of day that makes it so difficult to bet on your favorite team. The Yankee fan in me was jumping up and down at my desk as we got to see Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and Gary Sanchez all hit homers in the Bronx. The gambling blogger in me sat with my head in my hands wallowing that the under missed by one run. Emotionally, it was a push. I see today going a different way, and getting the elusive win-win.   Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

On this day in 1996 the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles squared off in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. It was the Yankees first appearance in the Championship Series in 15 years and with the team trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Derek Jeter stepped to plate. In what would be one of the first of many iconic moments in the career of the former Yankee captain, Jeter hit a deep fly ball to right field. Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco retreated all the way to the wall and reached up for the ball, but right at the last minute a glove reached out of the stands and over the field of play to intercept the ball and bring it in to the first row. Credit: AP

The Yankees came into this game trailing the Red Sox in the division by only three games and hoped to gain one game closer with a win against the Orioles. Young lefty Jordan Montgomery took the mound today to face this potent Baltimore lineup. The game started off slow which was expected with Jeremy Hellickson's average of 26 seconds between pitches on the mound, but it got exciting early on with a pair of three-run home runs by Didi Gregorius and Greg Bird, and a two-run home run by Todd Frazier. The Bombers would never look back, winning this game 9-3, clinching the series win against their divisional opponent. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Coming off three consecutive road series wins against Baltimore, Texas and Tampa Bay, the Yankees returned home to kick off a crucial seven game homestand against the Orioles and Twins.  After owning the Orioles in a three game sweep the last time these two teams met in the Bronx, the Yankees once again looked their dominant selves from earlier this season as they opened up a 6-0 lead after just one inning.  Two home runs from Aaron Judge and one each from Todd Frazier and Gary Sanchez helped the Yankees cruise to an easy 13-5 victory. Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II/AP Photo

Coming off arguably their biggest win of the season, the Yankees traveled to Baltimore to face Dylan Bundy and the Orioles. Today marks the beginning of Gary Sanchez's reduced three game suspension, putting the Yankees down one of their best hitters. The Bombers have not won a series in Camden Yards since 2013, and entered this Labor Day Matinee hoping Jordan Montgomery and company could get them started in the right direction. The Yankees bats were able to erase an early 3-0 deficit to win 7-4, marking their third straight game with five or more runs. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

The Yankees have put distance between themselves and the Red Sox after having taken two out of three at Yankee Stadium and now welcome the Baltimore Orioles for another pivotal series. Currently, New York is three games ahead of the Red Sox and 3.5 ahead of Baltimore. A series win could go a long way towards easing tensions in an ultra-competitive division.