MLB odds: Yankees vs. White Sox

By Jordan Walters
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook

The White Sox lost Tuesday's series opener against the visiting New York Yankees, but in Wednesday's Game 2 they again won't have to worry about dealing with reigning AL MVP Alex Rodriguez; New York is a +125 money line betting underdog  (over/under: 9.5) on WagerWeb.com.

Rodriguez did not join the team in Chicago for the 9-5 victory in the series opener, missing his first game of the season. He spent the day in Miami, where his wife gave birth to their second daughter Monday night. He is expected to re-join the Yankees on Thursday.

The Yanks got to Chicago's bullpen on Tuesday, as that unit allowed five runs in the final 2 1/3 innings after it had allowed only four runs in 18 innings before Tuesday.

The Sox also were only 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position, compared to the previous 18 games that saw the Sox post a .318 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Morgan Ensberg likely will start at third again for A-Rod; he's 5-for-13 (.385) against Javier Vazquez, who will take the mound for Chicago.

Vazquez (3-1, 3.20 ERA) looks for his fourth straight victory when he faces one of his former teams. Since leaving New York after his lone season with the Yankees in 2004, he is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in two starts against them.

Vazquez is 4-0 with a 2.65 ERA in his last five home starts, striking out 43 and walking just four in that span.

The Yankees will turn to struggling veteran Mike Mussina (1-3, 5.75), who tries to avoid a third straight loss. Mussina lasted a season-low three innings and allowed five runs and seven hits in a 7-5 home loss to Boston last Thursday.

Mussina hasn't had much success on the road against the White Sox since joining New York in 2001. He's 1-4 with a 5.26 ERA in six starts at U.S. Cellular Field with the Yankees.

The Yankees are 5-0 when Chien-Ming Wang starts (as he did Tuesday), 3-1 behind Andy Pettitte and 3-9 otherwise.

 

Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski is hitting .371 (13-for-35) lifetime against Mussina, while Jermaine Dye is batting .377 (20-for-53) against the veteran.

Bobby Abreu's grand slam was the difference on Tuesday, and he loves U.S. Cellular Field. Abreu came into Tuesday's game leading all active players in batting average (.417), on-base percentage (.541) and slugging percentage (.813) at U.S. Cellular Field. He now has six career home runs and 19 RBIs there in 14 games.

Abreu is hitting .316 (24-for-76) with three homers and 14 RBIs. He has not gone consecutive games without a hit.

"My mechanics are better right now at the plate," Abreu said. "Last year I was pulling a lot of balls to first base. Last year I was opening up too quickly."

Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain threw 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief with a walk and strikeout in the opener, meaning he likely won't be available tonight.

Jorge Posada started at catcher Tuesday night for the first time in two weeks.

"I'm happy," said Posada, who had been kept from catching (other than an emergency inning April 13) by a strained right shoulder. "I'm happy that they really took the time to make sure that everything was fine."

Betting trends: Under is 14-5 in Yankees' last 19 on grass. ... Yankees are 41-16 in their last 57 Wednesday games. ... Under is 15-6 in Yanks' last 21 overall. ... White Sox are 7-15 in their last 22 Wednesday games. ... White Sox are 8-1 in Vazquez's last 9 starts.