New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics Pick 8/29/21

New York Yankees (76-53) vs. Oakland Athletics (71-59)
When: 7 p.m., Sunday, August 29
Where: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, Calif.
Moneyline: NYY -145/OAK +135 (SportsBetting.ag – Excellent live betting platform!)
Runline: Yankees -1.5/Athletics +1.5
Total: 9

Starting Pitchers: Jordan Montgomery (5-5, 3.69 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) vs. Paul Blackburn (0-1, 4.09 ERA, 1.18 WHIP)

Tripped Up

Finally, the Yankees’ 13-game winning streak came to an end, as the Athletics managed to hang on down the stretch and top New York with a 3-2 victory. The Yankees certainly didn’t go quietly, as Aaron Judge nearly brought New York back with a home run in the ninth, but the rest of the night was fairly typical of what got the Yankees in the hole in the first place: they couldn’t get the bats going and gave the Athletics too many free opportunities with three walks and two errors. Eventually, good teams take advantage of those chances, and Oakland did precisely that.

The bigger question now is whether Oakland will be able to build off that momentum and whether the Yankees will continue playing as well as they have for the past two weeks. New York is now firmly in the driver’s seat as far as the wild card goes, and Oakland has seen its playoff chances fall to a mere 9 percent, as they now find themselves 3.5 games back of Boston for the second wild card. In other words, the pressure is now really on for both teams.

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Turning It Around

One of the biggest reasons why the Yankees have been able to get themselves into the playoff discussion is that their pitching has simply stepped up and done what it has to do. The Yankees seem to have finally accepted the fact that they are not the Bronx Bombers of years past; this is a team that has to rely on pitching and defense in order to win games.

Jordan Montgomery has played a big part in that by holding his past four opponents to three runs or less for the game. In fact, he’s now held ten straight opponents to three runs or less while he’s pitching, but the Yankees have only won five of them, in large part because the bats just haven’t been connecting. In Montgomery’s last ten starts, the Yankees’ opponents have averaged 3.4 runs (skewed a bit by an eight-run showing from the Mets on July 3), while the Yankees themselves have averaged 2.8. It’s little wonder, then, that the Yankees have seen the under cash in eight of their past ten showings.

Strong Start

Paul Blackburn also knows a thing or two about cashing Unders, as he’s seen the under cash in both of his major league starts this season. Blackburn has yet to really stick in the big leagues, but at 27, there’s still plenty of time for him to find his place, and he’s pitching like he wants to do exactly that. So far, he’s yet to get a win, but that hasn’t been his fault, as he’s given up just five runs in 11 innings of work.
Unfortunately, the Athletics didn’t really provide much help, as they managed to score just five runs in 18 innings, leaving Blackburn on the wrong end of his 2021 debut and with a no-decision against the M’s after the bullpen blew it. Blackburn hasn’t been overly dominating, but he has done a nice job of getting outs in whatever method he has to do. Usually, that’s been by pitching to contact and letting the Athletics do the job.

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Betting Trends

• The Yankees are 6-1 in their past seven road games.
• The Yankees are 6-2 in their past eight against the AL West.
• The Athletics are 1-6 in their past seven games overall.
• The Athletics are 0-4 in their past four as a home underdog.
• The under is 9-3 in the Yankees’ past 12 against the AL West.
• The under is 4-0-1 in the Yankees’ past five Sunday games.
• The under is 7-3-2 in the Athletics’ past 12 on grass.
• The under is 4-0 in the Athletics’ past four against a left-handed starter.
• The Yankees are 4-1 in the past five matchups.
• The under is 8-3-1 in the past 12 meetings.

Weather Report

It should be a nice night for baseball, with temperatures at 77 degrees and winds blowing out to right-center at nine miles per hour.

Dan’s Pick

For me, the best bet on the board is the under, as I trust neither of these offenses and think that both pitchers are getting the job done nicely. However, the Athletics haven’t really been doing much for Blackburn when he’s on the mound, and I don’t really want to trust him against a Yankees squad that’s coming off 13 wins in their past 14 games. Give me the Yankees here. Note: Football is here! Gift yourself the doubling up of your bankroll by depositing up to $500 at GTBets Sportsbook and they’ll match you dollar for dollar with a 100% real cash bonus!