Angels go for two-game sweep of Yankees

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The new Yankee Stadium hasn't been an enjoyable place for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the spectacular venue's brief history, but the three-time defending American League West champions will have an opportunity to earn a two-game sweep there when they take the field against the hometown New York Yankees this afternoon.

The Angels lost in six of their seven visits to Yankee Stadium, which included a trio of defeats to the Bronx Bombers in the 2009 AL Championship Series, during the ballpark's first season of existence, then won just one of three road matchups with New York in a series that took place between April 23-25. Anaheim had an easier time in last night's opener of this brief set, however, clubbing three home runs and banging out 14 hits en route to a 10-2 rout of the reigning world champs.

Mike Napoli led the outburst by going 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBI, while Maicer Izturis also went deep and knocked in three runs for the Angels. Former Yankee standout Hideki Matsui added a two-run blast against his ex-team to help Los Angeles win for the fourth time in its last four games.

Napoli has now homered in three consecutive contests and has gone 8-for-16 with six RBI and six runs scored during a four-game hitting streak.

"I was struggling a bit before the [All-Star] break, but I got back to basics and moved my hands up a little bit more," said Napoli. "I got some pitches to hit tonight -- I was just trying to get a good count and feel good up there."

Anaheim also received a solid start out of Sean O'Sullivan (1-0) in Tuesday's triumph. The young right-hander, called up from Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday to replace the injured Scott Kazmir, held the Yankees to two runs and just a pair of hits over the first six innings.

O'Sullivan outpitched New York All-Star Phil Hughes (11-3), who was tagged for six runs on nine hits and three walks over a shaky five-plus innings.

The Yankees put up two runs in the bottom of the first inning, with Nick Swisher's solo homer starting the scoring, to take an early lead, but managed just four hits off O'Sullivan and the Anaheim bullpen the rest of the way.

"We scored a couple early runs, but they just kept coming after us," said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. "We just need to keep our heads up -- we can't get frustrated."

New York was able to maintain its 2 1/2-game advantage on second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East standings after the Rays lost to Baltimore on Tuesday. The Yankees won two of three games from Tampa at home heading into this series.

The Yankees will attempt to rebound behind Javier Vazquez, while the veteran right-hander tries to maintain his outstanding recent form when he takes the mound this afternoon. The offseason addition has rebounded strongly from a poor beginning to the season and enters today's test having compiled a 4-2 record and a 2.55 ERA in an eight-start span that began on June 1.

Vazquez has been especially good over his past two outings. After limiting Oakland to one run and three hits over seven innings in a July 5 victory, he closed out his first half by yielding three hits and striking out seven in seven shutout frames at Seattle on July 10. The 33-year-old was denied a potential win that night, however, when teammate Joba Chamberlain gave up a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the eighth.

The Puerto Rico native will have a chance to rebound from two of his worst showings of the season today. Against the Angels on April 25, Vazquez was tagged for five runs in just 3 2/3 innings of an 8-4 New York loss in Anaheim, which took place 11 days after he surrendered four runs through 5 1/3 frames in a home setback to the Halos. He's yet to defeat Anaheim over the course of his career, bringing an 0-3 record with a 4.38 ERA in six prior matchups with the Halos into this afternoon's clash.

Joel Pineiro opposed Vazquez in that April 14 meeting at Yankee Stadium and will do so again today. The Anaheim right-hander delivered a gem that day, holding the Bronx Bombers to a run on five hits and not issuing a walk over seven excellent innings.

Pineiro wasn't nearly as successful in a rematch with New York later that month, permitting six runs and 11 hits in a six-inning loss at Angel Stadium on April 25. He's been virtually unbeatable as of late, however, racking up seven consecutive wins in eight starts since a June 1 defeat at Kansas City. The Angels have come out on top in each of those contests.

The sinker specialist ran his season record to 10-6 after tossing seven innings of three-run ball against Seattle this past Thursday. Pineiro has posted a 2.51 ERA during his undefeated stretch and lasted seven innings or more in six of his last seven trips to the hill.

In 18 lifetime appearances (10 starts) against the Yankees, Pineiro is 3-4 with a 3.66 ERA.

Tuesday's victory gave the Angels a 4-3 edge in this year's season series with New York.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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