MLB: Aces collide in Phillies-Yankees matchup

MLB: Aces collide in Phillies-Yankees matchup

2010-06-15

The three-game series between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies was always going to be intriguing. The pitching matchup in Tuesday night's opener at Yankee Stadium makes it even more so. Both teams will have their aces on the mound in this rematch of last year's World Series when the Yankees turn to CC Sabathia and the Phillies counter with a pitcher very familiar to New York in Roy Halladay. Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have installed the hosts as -130 favorites, marking only the second time in 22 starts that Halladay will pitch as an underdog.

The Yankees (40-23) ended a nine-year championship drought by beating the defending champion Phillies (32-29) in six games last year. New York prevailed despite being outhomered 11-6, with Chase Utley hitting five homers for Philadelphia.

Both teams made some key changes, with New York choosing not to re-sign World Series MVP Hideki Matsui and outfielder Johnny Damon. The biggest move was made by Philadelphia, which dealt Cliff Lee and acquired Halladay (8-4, 1.96 ERA) in a four-team deal in the offseason.

Halladay has been outstanding, pitching a major league-leading five complete games. He's dominated the Yankees, going 18-6 with a 2.81 ERA in 35 starts, including 8-1 with a 2.42 ERA in his last 10.

In his career, HALLADAY is 63-41 (+22.5 Units) against the money line when the money line is +125 to -125. The average score was HALLADAY 5.3, OPPONENT 4.2 - (Rating = 1*).

However, this is an interesting contradictory angle from FoxSheets:

• HALLADAY is 0-6 (-10.7 Units) against the money line in an inter-league game over the last 2 seasons. (Team's Record) The average score was HALLADAY 2.2, OPPONENT 4.8 - (Rating = 2*)

Sabathia is 1-3 with a 4.74 ERA in six career outings against the Phillies, including three in the postseason. His ERA in 2010 is a pedestrian 4.01 and he has given up 10 runs in 20 innings in his last three starts. The left-hander's last four victories have come against Baltimore, which he's beaten in each of his last two starts. He gave up two runs over seven innings in a 4-2 road win Wednesday.

This will mark the third time that Halladay and Sabathia (6-3, 4.01) have met. They split the first two meetings, with Halladay posting a 3.29 ERA and Sabathia a 3.07 ERA.

New York has won eight straight at home to move into a first-place tie atop the AL East with Tampa Bay.

It's been a different story for the two-time defending NL champions, who find themselves in third place in their division as losers of 14 of 20. The Phillies are last in the majors with 48 runs scored since May 22.

The Yankees will receive a boost if Alex Rodriguez returns after missing all three games against the Astros with a sore right hip. Girardi believes Rodriguez may play Tuesday.

The StatFox Power Line shows the Yankees at -131, almost identical to the actual price at Sportsbook.com, meaning there should be somewhat balanced action coming in on each team.

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