Bronx Bomber Ball

  Hello and welcome again to Bronx Bomber Bets! This will be our second BBBets of the season, with the first being last Friday where I started 4-1. I didn’t give out any bets this weekend, but had an overall pretty solid weekend, and then saved myself yesterday by not giving out any picks (I had the graphic made and had began a blog) on a day where I ended up going 1-3. I’m gearing up to end that cold streak at one day today, and I have 4 bets that I think will return my hands to their heat from this weekend. It’s just picks from me again today, but hopefully later this season we start getting bets from our other two resident degenerates at BBB, Andrew and Luigi.

The best news surrounding the American League Division Series, at least for the Yankees, is that they will be heading right out of the metaphorical gate at Yankee Stadium.   Oh, and that if they are forced to head to a Game Five with the Minnesota Twins when vying for a ticket to the American League Championship Series, they will be able to play that important fifth game at home as well.   Out of the 103 wins recorded in the regular season for the Savages, 57 of them came in the Bronx.   What’s more, out of their 59 regular-season losses, they only lost at home 24 times.   That’s it.   Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The New York Yankees are finally returning home after a nine-game road trip that saw them go 6-3.  If you told a Yankee fan they would finish their West Coast stint with a 6-3 record before the trip, they would have been satisfied.  However, after starting 6-1 and dropping the last two games to Arizona by a combined three runs, it feels as if they left a win or two on the table.  Nonetheless, the Yankees currently have a 17-13 record and are just 2.5 games behind the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees start their seven-game home stand with a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins.  The AL Central leading Twins come into this series with a 19-10 record after just completing a series win over the Houston Astros.  Minnesota is 6-1 over their last seven games. They are getting it done on both sides of the ball as they are in the top-13 in the majors in both runs scored and runs against.  This is the first of two t...

It has taken almost two weeks, but BBBetting has finally returned to earth. I will take a loss for BBBetting if it means a Yankee blow out any night of the week. Tonight we are not going to have to play that game though, as I expect a big night, a Yankee win, and a BBBetting victory.  Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports

After a thrashing of the Twins Monday night, the Bombers looked poised to continue their three-game winning streak in this homestand. CC Sabathia took the mound to face Jose Berrios and the Minnesota Twins in the second round of their four-game series. After a short stumble by Sabathia in the first inning, the Yankees scored a run or more in four straight innings to retake the lead, and never looked back. Didi Gregorius continued his impressive start, recording his seventh home run of the year and added three more RBIs to his season total. Gleyber Torres recorded his first RBI as well, and Gary Sanchez launched his fourth and fifth home runs of the year as well. The Yanks seem like they are starting to finally click, a great sign for the Bronx faithful. Yankees.com

Hopefully a few nights off here will not slow down the absolute red hot streak we have been on. This blog is 7-1-1 with our last nine picks, and just like the Yankees bats, appears unstoppable. Tonight the Yankees and BBBetting are back at it, ready to roll. Photo Credit: Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports

CC Sabathia is obviously no longer the same pitcher he was when he first signed his multi-year deal with the Yankees in 2008. So far in the 2017 season, he’s been one of the more consistent pitchers in the Yankees rotation, even though he has been on the 10-day disabled list twice. CC has started 24 games posting an 11-5 record, 3.85 ERA, 1.305 WHIP, and 105 strikeouts in 131 innings pitched. He’s far from his days as the Yankees workhorse, as he’s only gone 7+ innings three times this season. CC has clearly shown signs of his body slowing down and that will probably be the main factor in his decision following the 2017 campaign. AP Photo | Patrick Semansky

The Yankees may be coming off a loss against Baltimore, but there is much to be excited about in the Bronx. The Bombers have won five straight series since the sweep by Cleveland, and they have performed great in that span. They have won games with their explosive offense, closed tight games with their bullpen, and even played enough small ball to win a low-scoring game. The list goes on, but in short, the Yankees are doing a lot of things right. It may not always be pretty, but it's working. This matchup against the Minnesota Twins may be the most crucial since the Boston series as the Yankees can all but ensure a playoff berth while closing in on a division title if they can corral the Twins at home.

You would think turning around a 98 MPH fastball doesn't happen very often, but that means you haven’t seen Nathan Eovaldi (6-5, 5.19 ERA) pitch. Danny Santana got the scoring party started with a laser beam that just got over the right field wall in the third inning and the Twins didn’t look back from there. Eovaldi’s consistent inconsistencies bit him him once again as he allowed four homers on Sunday, including back-to-back-to-back jacks to Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe and Max Kepler in the sixth inning. Eovaldi has now allowed four or more runs in five consecutive starts. The 26-year old right-hander threw pitch after pitch right down the heart of the plate. Photo Credit: Associated Press/Kathy Willens

For the second day in a row, the Yankees were once again helped by poor Minnesota defense. With runners on first and third and one out in the bottom of the eighth, Eduardo Escobar booted his second double-play ball of the game. Aaron Hicks scored the go-ahead run and the Yankees won their second straight game over the Twins, 2-1. Starlin Castro was credited with the go-ahead RBI. Photo Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II Michael Pineda started and pitched well, giving up just one run and two hits while striking out eight over six innings. His only mistake of the afternoon was a leadoff home run to Brian Dozier to lead off the second inning. Following Dozier’s 9th home run of the year, Pineda retired 15 of the last 17 batters he faced. This was Pineda’s third quality start over his last four outings. After a rough April and May, Pineda has turned it around in June, giving up just 10 ER in 30 innings, while striking out 37 and walking just 5. His next scheduled start will be agains...

In the fourth, after Austin Romine tied the game with a sacrifice fly, Rob Refsnyder’s RBI single gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish. After Masahiro Tanaka (5-2, 3.01 ERA) posted six solid innings, "No-Run DMC" took over and dominated with three perfect innings, and the Yankees knocked off the Minnesota Twins, 5-3, in the Friday night series opener. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Frank Franklin II

The Yankees will welcome the Minnesota Twins to town for a three game set after splitting a two game series with the Colorado Rockies. The Bombers enter the series as winners of four of their last ten games, and will hope to take advantage of an awful Twins team. Minnesota comes to the Bronx winners of five of their last ten, and have won three in a row. The Yankees have struggled to stay above .500 and hopefully this series will give their underachieving record a boost.

The Yankees were unable to finish off a four game sweep of the lowly Minnesota Twins this Sunday. After getting off to an early 2-0 lead, Nathan Eovaldi continued his recent struggles and imploded in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Yankees failed to rebound from this deficit, losing 7-4. Although I'm content with taking three out of four from the Twins, a sweep would have been ideal. Once again, the Yankees fell below .500. Photo Credit: AP/Ann Heisenfelt

The Yankees “Jekyll and Hyde” offense was in true form against the Twins on Saturday, but they woke up just in time to rally from a 4-0 deficit to win 7-6. In the ninth, with the game tied at four and none out, the Yankees loaded the bases after two walks and a bunt single. After Starlin Castro struck out, Jacoby Ellsbury delivered a tiebreaking, 2-RBI single, giving the Yankees a 6-4 lead. Brett Gardner extended the lead to 7-4 with a sacrifice fly to center, and the Yankees won their third straight game against the Twins on Saturday afternoon. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Jim Mone

After a 45-minute rain delay to start the game, the Yankees came out hot, scoring early and often to help starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka earn his fourth win of the season. New York used a four-run first inning, which included an RBI double from Rob Refsnyder and a two-run home run from Carlos Beltran, his 17th of the season, to jump on the Twins early. Didi Gregorius capped off the first inning scoring with a run-scoring infield single, raising his batting average to .280 on the season. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Jim Mone

After six strong innings by CC Sabathia (5-4, 2.20 ERA), the Yankees were staring at another game with a low offensive output. Earlier in the sixth, the Yankees loaded the bases with none out, scored a run via a Jacoby Ellsbury RBI single, had the bases loaded again, but could not muster any further runs. However, after Brian McCann and Alex Rodriguez reached to start the seventh, Didi Gregorius sent a Fernando Abad pitch over the wall in deep right for a three-run homer, and the Yankees won 4-1 on Thursday night in Minneapolis. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Ann Heisenfelt

After losing two games in Denver to the Colorado Rockies in the first half of an Interleague home-and-home series, the Yankees must get started on a winning streak to get themselves well over .500 before the All-Star break if they want the rest of the summer to be meaningful. Today marks the start of a four-game series against the Twins and the start of seven games against them in the next ten days. Minnesota is 20-45, which is the worst in the American League and second-to-last in the Majors.

This article has been updated as of Monday, May 16. The Yankees made several roster moves on Saturday, 5/14: 1. Chad Green & Conor Mullee signed to MLB contracts, called up from Triple-A Scranton 2. Gary Sanchez optioned to Triple-A Scranton 3. Luis Severino placed on 15-day DL (right triceps strain) 4. Bryan Mitchell, Greg Bird, and Mason Williams moved to 60-day DL 5. Yankees acquired J.R. Graham from the Minnesota Twins for cash or a player to be named later; Graham has been sent to Double-A Trenton Chad Green | Picture Credit: Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre)