Yankees Are MLB Betting Favorites Against Royals on Tuesday

The New York Yankees are scuffling a bit in having lost four of five but they remain in first place in the AL East Division as the Bombers begin a road trip Tuesday night with their lone visit of the season to Kansas City. The Yankees are coming off a 4 game series against the Houston Astros, which they lost in horrible fashion at 1-3. For the Royals, it was the other way around. They swept the Baltimore Orioles at 3-0 in their weekend series. New York will be a betting favorite in what looks like a lousy pitching matchup.

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NY Yankees at Kansas City MLB Betting Prediction & Game Info

Final: Astros 10, Yankees 7. Next up: 3-game series in Kansas City starting Tuesday.

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 15, 2017

When: Tuesday, May 16, 8:15 PM ET Where: Kauffman Stadium, KC Probable pitchers (away/home): CC Sabathia/Jason Hammel TV: MLB Extra Innings Stream: MLB.tv Radio: New York / Kansas City Opening MLB Lines: Yankees favored by TBA

Why Bet On NY Yankees?

The Yankees retired the No. 2 of the Captain Derek Jeter on Sunday night but then went out and lost 10- 7 to Houston. George Springer led off the game with a drive into Monument Park just after Jeter’s number was retired there in a pregame ceremony. Masahiro Tanaka (5-2) left to jeers with New York trailing 8-0, the most runs he allowed in his major league career. The four homers allowed tied his high. New York announced before the opener that closer Aroldis Chapman will be out at least a month because of left shoulder inflammation. An MRI taken Saturday morning revealed that Chapman has no structural damage in his shoulder but Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Sunday that Chapman won’t pitch in a game for at least four weeks. Chapman told the Yankees he had a similar condition in 2012 when he pitched for the Reds. In his two outings before being placed on the disabled list, Chapman had allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks. The four-time All-Star’s average fastball velocity has dropped from a major league high 100.9 mph last year to 98.2 mph this year, according to MLB’s Statcast. In the short term, Dellin Betances will replace Chapman as the team’ closer. The Yankees recalled Chad Green from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes- Barre to replace Chapman in the bullpen. Next up in the rotation on Tuesday, the slumping CC Sabathia to stop the bleeding against the Royals, the majors’ worst offense with 119 runs scored, in Kansas City. Sabathia and Tanaka were supposed to serve as the reliable veterans; instead, at 5.77 and 5.80, respectively, they own the two highest ERAs in the rotation. The southpaw Sabathia hit the ground running to begin the season. New York won each of Sabathia’s first three outings as he went 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA and .182/.270/.227 slash line against in 18.1 innings. In his last four starts, he is 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA and .337/.416/.551 slash line against in 20.2 innings. The opposition has scored 22 runs against him in those four starts, with Sabathia allowing 10 walks compared to 16 strikeouts. He hasn’t been keeping the ball in the park either, giving up five homers. Sabathia’s latest performance last Tuesday saw him surrender five earned runs on seven hits to the Reds in six innings of work. The Yankees lost the game, 5-3. “His cutter hasn’t been as sharp, and that’s a big pitch for him,” Joe Girardi said after the Reds game. “Getting it inside to right-handers, speeding them up and setting up his backdoor breaking ball and his changeup, it just hasn’t been effective.” Sabathia has pitched to an 8.14 ERA in the first three innings of games this season, while he holds a 2.70 ERA in innings four through six. The 36-year-old lefty has allowed five or more runs in each of his previous three starts.

Why Bet On Kansas City?

The Royals are last in the AL Central but getting much better as they have won four straight and six of seven. They completed a three-game sweep of Baltimore on Sunday in a 9-8 win. Coming into the game the Royals were 1-15 when the other team scored five or more runs. The Royals are approaching the 40 games that Dayton Moore says he uses to judge a team’s potential and the Royals’ potential looks awfully different than it did just seven games ago. Alex Gordon (groin) went 0-for- 4 with a hit-by- pitch and a run scored in his return to action Sunday against the Orioles. Gordon left Friday’s game due to minor tightness in his right groin, but he’s feeling better now. The 33-year- old has been terrible this season, batting just .152 with a .456 OPS through 35 games. It’s struggling right-hander Jason Hammel (1-4, 5.97) on the mound. Hammel gave up 13 hits and six earned runs over seven innings on Wednesday against Tampa Bay. In the first two innings of Hammel’s seven starts this season, he has held opponents to a .235 batting average and a 1.93 ERA. But thereafter, Hammel has an 8.71 ERA, and opponents are hitting .363 against him. Hammel believes that by working out of the stretch and abandoning his windup could give him more consistency. He employed this strategy for the first time two starts ago. “It just cuts down on all the moving parts,” Hammel said. “I’m still getting used to it, but I think it will help.”

NY Yankees at Kansas City MLB Betting Pick: Over Total

The total here is likely to be 8.5-9 and I’d go over that with two struggling guys on the mound.