It’s the Bronx Bombers against team “Moneyball” in a winner-take-all American League Wild Card game at 8 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN. The New York Yankees enter the Wild Card game as one of the best teams to ever qualify for the game with a record of 100-62 and having hit a record 267 home runs in the regular season.
The Oakland Athletics were not expected to be in the spot, but in true A’s form, here they are. Oakland can also hit the long ball, having gone deep 227 times in 2018, good for third in all of MLB.
Both teams are similar when comes to pitching staffs as the Yankees rank 10th in MLB in ERA at 3.78 while the A’s are right behind at 3.81.
With home field advantage, New York is favored at -180, while Oakland is drawing +170. Let’s take a look at the matchup:
Pitching
The Yankees will send Luis Severino to the mound with a stellar 19-8 record and a 3.39 ERA this season.
Severino had a great start to 2018, but hit a bit of rough patch this summer with a 2-2 record in July and a 6.58 ERA, but those numbers have dropped as summer has given way to fall. Severino went 2-2 in September with a 3.98 ERA.
Severino’s worst start in September came at Oakland as he went 2 2/3 innings and gave up six runs, five earned, on six hits, a walk and three strikeouts.
Back in May he performed much better at home against the A’s going six innings and giving up a run, on five hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Oakland will be going with Liam Hendriks who is 0-1 this season with a 4.13 ERA. Hendriks will be the starter, but the A’s are going with the bullpen in this one.
The last time Hendriks started was Saturday in a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Angels and after throwing a scoreless inning Oakland turned to Trevor Cahill, who gave up an unearned run in four innings, followed by Shawn Kelley, Fernando Rodney, Jeurys Familia and Blake Treinen for the save.
On September 4, the A’s went with the same game plan and Hendriks tossed a scoreless inning to start. Oakland kept the Yankees off the board until the seventh, when the New York bats heated up and won 5-1.
Batting
The first thing you think of when it comes to New York is the powerful lineup with the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar.
While the power is great, the Yankees have the third most strikeouts in the American League. Good news for New York fans, the A’s are 26th in MLB in strikeouts as a pitching staff. A stat like that bodes well for the home team.
Oakland’s power hitters aren’t as well known as the Yankees’, but that doesn’t mean the A’s don’t have power.
Khris Davis powered 48 home runs this season and had 123 RBIs while Matt Olson, Stephen Piscotty, Matt Chapman and Jed Lowrie all posted at least 20 home runs and 65 RBIs.
Fielding
Oakland has the slight edge there with a .985 field percentage, making them 12th in MLB while the Yankees field at a .984 percentage (17th in MLB).
Pick
The key to the game will be Severino and if he can keep keep the A’s bats quiet. If he tosses a few scoreless innings to start, it could make for a long night for the A’s.
Take the Yankees at home and if the ball is flying, the total of 8.5 could go well above the over.
