Yankees vs Orioles Series Preview and Odds

Not all too long ago, the New York Yankees owned a double-digit-game lead in the American League East, and looked like they were going to run away.

Heading into Friday night’s play, that lead is all gone, replaced by a three-team fight for the top spot in the East.

Yankees fans love bringing up the classic choke job the Boston Red Sox pulled off last year. How much schadenfreude do you suppose is going around Beantown right now?

New York continues a four-game series in Baltimore Friday, after dropping Game 1 of that series Thursday night to fall back into a first-place tie with the O’s.

Baltimore bashed six homers Thursday, three in the eighth inning, on its way to a 10-6 victory. So the Orioles have won 10 of their last 13 games, while the Yankees have dropped 11 of their last 16.

For Friday night’s game Baltimore with Wei-Yin Chen is listed as a -115 favorites over New York with Phil Hughes.

While the Yanks and O’s are battling in Baltimore the Tampa Bay Rays, who sit just two games out in the East, are hosting the AL West-leading Texas Rangers for three games this weekend. Also, the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels, both within three games of the second AL Wild-Card spot, hook up for three games in Anaheim; and the Dodgers, who trail the Giants by 4.5 games in the NL West, are in San Francisco for three games.

As of Friday morning Bovada is listing the Angels as -130 favorites over the Tigers (+100) to win that series; the Rays at -135 to win their series with the Rangers (+105); and the Giants at -125 to win their series with the Dodgers (-105). NY Yankees +101 at Baltimore -106, Total 9 - Philip Hughes (13-12) | Wei-Yin Chen (12-8) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: NY Yankees are 16-7 SU in their last 23 games when playing on the road against Baltimore
Baltimore is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home

Chi Cubs +181 at Pittsburgh -192, Total 7.5 - Travis Wood (4-11) | AJ Burnett (15-5) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chi Cubs’s last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Pittsburgh’s last 6 games when playing at home against Chi Cubs

Miami +240 at Washington -250, Total 7.5 - Jacob Turner (1-3) | Stephen Strasburg (15-6) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone OVER in 5 of Miami’s last 6 games
Washington is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games

Colorado +190 at Philadelphia -200, Total 7.5 - Jeff Francis (5-4) | Cliff Lee (4-7) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Colorado’s last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Philadelphia’s last 6 games at home

Atlanta -107 at NY Mets +102, Total 7.5 - Paul Maholm (11-9) | Jonathon Niese (10-8) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: Atlanta is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing NY Mets
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Mets’s last 5 games at home

Texas +110 at Tampa Bay -115, Total 8.5 - Derek Holland (10-6) | Jeremy Hellickson (8-10) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: Texas is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games

Toronto +139 at Boston -144, Total 10 - Henderson Alvarez (7-12) | Felix Doubront (10-7) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone OVER in 4 of Toronto’s last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston’s last 6 games at home

Houston +195 at Cincinnati -205, Total 8.5 - Lucas Harrell (10-9) | Homer Bailey (10-9) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Houston’s last 6 games on the road
Cincinnati is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Houston

Cleveland +122 at Minnesota -127, Total 9 - Jeanmar Gomez (5-7) | Liam Hendriks (0-7) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Cleveland’s last 5 games on the road
Minnesota is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing Cleveland

Kansas City +154 at Chi White Sox -159, Total 8.5 - Luis Mendoza (6-8) | Francisco Liriano (5-11) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: Kansas City is 5-0 SU in their last 5 games when playing Chi White Sox
Chi White Sox are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games at home

Milwaukee +135 at St. Louis -140, Total 7.5 - Yovani Gallardo (14-8) | Kyle Lohse (14-2) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone OVER in 5 of Milwaukee’s last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of St. Louis’s last 7 games when playing Milwaukee

Detroit -106 at LA Angels +101, Total 8 - Max Scherzer (15-6) | Ervin Santana (8-11) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Detroit’s last 5 games
LA Angels are 8-1 SU in their last 9 games

Arizona +111 at San Diego -116, Total 7 - Tyler Skaggs (1-1) | Andrew Cashner (0-0) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Arizona’s last 9 games when playing on the road against San Diego
San Diego is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Arizona

Oakland +126 at Seattle -136, Total 6 - AJ Griffin (4-0) | Felix Hernandez (13-6) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: Oakland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Seattle’s last 9 games when playing at home against Oakland

LA Dodgers +109 at San Francisco -114, Total 7 - Josh Beckett (6-12) | Tim Lincecum (8-14) | Matchup Report | SBNation MLB Odds
Trends: The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Dodgers’s last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Francisco’s last 5 games at home