11/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - You can argue all you want about whether or not Joe Girardi should have started A.J. Burnett on short rest on the road, or whether Charlie Manuel should have gone with Cliff Lee a day earlier than he did.
Either way, though, this series is headed back to the Bronx.
Wednesday will mark our first Game 6 since 2003 when the world was introduced to Josh Beckett, who tossed a five-hit shutout to eliminate the Yankees and clinch a World Series title that night for the Florida Marlins.
The Yankees are hopeful that Andy Pettitte has a better outcome this time than he did six years ago when he toed the rubber against a 23-year-old Beckett. This time, he will be squaring off against 38-year-old Pedro Martinez in what very well could be the final start of both of their careers.
Surprisingly, these two have never met in a playoff game, and have not faced off anywhere since 2003.
When he takes the ball on Wednesday, Pettitte will be going on short rest for the first time since 2006, when he was with the Houston Astros. Martinez will be working on full rest.
Overall, things haven't gone well for Pettitte on short rest, as he is 4-6 with a 4.15 ERA in those situations. However, in five career postseason starts on three days rest, he is 3-1 with a 2.80 ERA. Two of the best outings of his career have come on short rest: Game 5 of the 1996 World Series, when he tossed 8 1/3 scoreless innings to outduel John Smoltz, and Game 2 of the 2003 World Series when he allowed just an unearned run in 8 2/3 frames.
Of course, Pettitte is not 24 like he was back in Atlanta 13 years ago. But he is still the winningest pitcher in postseason history, and no pitcher has won more clinching games than the six he has under his belt.
It is probably not ideal that the Yankees are in this position, but what was Girardi's other option in Game 5? Chad Gaudin, who's thrown just 2 1/3 innings since September 28?
You could make the case that with Cliff Lee on the hill for the Phillies, that Game 5 was basically a throwaway game, so why not pitch Gaudin? Then you could have had Burnett on full rest in Game 6 at home, where he has thrived. Plus, had Gaudin been given the ball, you would have had Jorge Posada's bat in the lineup against Lee.
Burnett, though, had been excellent on short rest in his career. I can't argue with what Girardi did, especially with how Burnett he looked in Game 2. Did the Yanks do him any favors having him start on short rest on the road? Probably not. But having him and not Gaudin on the hill in Game 5 was the Yankees' best option for winning Game 5. And that is the bottom line.
The bigger issue is that a team with a $200 million payroll does not have a capable fourth starter. Girardi is not to blame for that either, it is Brian Cashman and the front office who deserve the blame for their ridiculous mishandling of Joba Chamberlain.
As they say, though, that is for another time and another place.
I actually have a bigger problem with the way Manuel has handled Lee in this series. I would have let him go on three-days' rest on Sunday, then had him ready to go should a Game 7 be necessary.
Now, he will almost certainly be available should the Phillies get to a decisive game, but after throwing 112 pitches in Monday's win, how much is he going to be able to give you with two days' rest?
Manuel has been a little shaky in this series. I don't know why in the world he took Shane Victorino out of the game in the eighth inning last night. I know Victorino was hurting, but if he made it that long, don't you think he could have finished the game?
Moving on, though, the Phils will once again hand the ball to Martinez in the Bronx. Everyone knows the history, as Martinez is just 1-3 in seven postseason appearances against the Yankees and is 0-3 in his past six outings against them.
Martinez did pitch well against the Yankees in Game 2, however, giving up three runs and six hits in six innings and keeping a potent lineup off-balance all night.
I know Pedro looked good last week, but there are a few reasons I don't like him on Wednesday. For one, he may have benefited early on in that Game 2 contest due to the fact that the Yankee bats were tight after having been baffled by Lee the previous evening. Plus, he had ample rest in between his NLCS gem against the Dodgers and his World Series start. This will be the first time he will pitching on somewhat regular rest in a while.
Then of course, there is the history that Martinez has had against the Yankees, who have gotten the best of him time and time again in big spots. Like he said, they are his daddy.
Before this series started I picked the Yankees in six, and I'm sticking with it. I think both starters will probably struggle on Wednesday, but I like the Yankees if it becomes a battle of the bullpens.
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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