MLB Odds: Yankees, Royals renew rivalry

Mark Teixeira’s bat should be back in the Yankees lineup on Thursday.

The New York Yankees look to continue their dominance over the Kansas City Royals when they start a four-game series Thursday night in the Midwest.

This used to be one of the game’s best rivalries. They met four times in the ALCS from 1976-1980, with the Yankees winning three. The teams have gone in different directions as New York has MLB’s highest payroll and Kansas City is historically towards the bottom (20th this year).

The Royals haven’t made the playoffs since 1985 and are consistently well below .500. New York is 60-20 in the last 80 meetings between the teams.

The Royals are 47-66 pending the conclusion of Wednesday night’s game at the Angels. Their 23-29 home record is second-worst in baseball behind Baltimore. Their minus 7.8 home units against the money-line is an AL-worst.

Kansas City was 12-23 before firing Trey Hillman as manager. It’s gone 35-43 with Ned Yost, who recently got a two-year extension. The team dumped several veterans at the trading deadline and recently designated Jose Guillen for assignment.

The Yankees (69-43) have the best record in baseball, but only lead Tampa Bay by a half-game in the AL East. Even the wild-card is not a definite. They’ve dropped their last four opening games of a series and are 3-6 in August, scoring just 3.56 runs per game.

New York tried to cement its playoff chances by acquiring starter Cliff Lee, but was rebuffed by Seattle at the last minute. That’s looming large now with Andy Pettitte still on the DL and A.J. Burnett wildly inconsistent.

Thursday’s starter CC Sabathia (14-5, 3.14 ERA) has no such problems. He’s made 13 quality starts in a row (2.38 ERA). The Yankees have gone 11-2 in those games, including beating Boston at home last Saturday 5-2.

The 30-year-old lefty does have a higher road ERA (3.59) than home (2.64) for the season. However, his road ERA is 2.08 in his last six starts, with the ‘under’ going 5-1.

Sabathia has one start against Kansas City this season (July 22). He surrendered four runs (three earned) in 6 1/3 innings in a 10-4 home win. He’s 16-10 with a 3.30 ERA lifetime against Kansas City. He’s 9-5 with a 3.87 ERA in Kauffman Stadium.

Bruce Chen (7-5, 4.44 ERA) will pitch for the AL’s second-worst starting staff (5.30 ERA). Even Zack Greinke, last year’s AL Cy Young winner, has slumped with a 7-11 record and 4.14 ERA.

The 33-year-old lefty Chen has made 13 starts after moving in from the bullpen to replace Gil Meche (shoulder). He’s acquitted himself decently overall, but has struggled more at home (5.06 ERA).

The journeyman has pitched for 10 teams in his career, although never the Yankees. His lone start against New York this year was at the Bronx opposing Sabathia. He allowed five earned runs over six innings. He’s 1-4 with a 6.83 lifetime against New York.

The Yankees took three of four in a July home series against Kansas City. The offense exploded for 33 runs. New York went 2-1 in Kansas City last year and is 10-4 in the last 14 road meetings. The ‘under’ is 6-1 in the last seven games in Kansas City.

First pitch for Thursday night is 5:10 p.m. (PT). Weather is expected to be very hot in the 90s.