The defending World Series champion New York Yankees are riding high again, with the best record in baseball, winners of five straight, and on top of the AL East.
Just when you think life couldn’t get any sweeter for the pinstripers, they get a gift from the baseball gods – a four-game series against the slumping, sad-sack Seattle Mariners.
The teams open the series Thursday at Safeco Field (10:10 pm ET, FOX), and the Yankees are -155 moneyline favorites in MLB Betting Odds at sportsbooks. For over/under bettors, the total is 7.5.
And New York will have one of its best hurlers on the mound, as southpaw Andy Pettitte gets the call for the opener. Pettitte is having a stellar season at 10-2 record with a 2.82 ERA this season. He’ll be up against Jason Vargas, the Mariners lefty who is 6-4 with a 3.22 ERA.
The Yankees (53-31 SU) continued to storm through the West Wednesday, when they knocked off the Oakland A’s 6-2 to complete a three-game sweep, as -122 favorites.
Nick Swisher was huge for the Bronx Bombers, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a solo shot, while starter A.J. Burnett scattered five hits and two runs over seven innings in the win.
The Mariners (34-50 SU), meanwhile, dropped their third straight, 7-3 against the visiting Kansas City Royals as -147 favorites on Wednesday.
The Yankees are 16-8 SU in their last 24 games when playing Seattle, but are only 2-5 SU in the past seven meetings.