Last night the Yankees became the 12th team this season to defeat the Angels in a series finale. Why does that matter? Well, I've long been a believer that when a team faces a far inferior opponent, it can leave them vulnerable against their next opponent, especially if that next opponent is any good.
When facing a far inferior opponent, overconfidence is a likely possibility, and that can lead to complacency and perhaps a lack of intensity. A bad team isn't going to inspire you to raise your game. Usually it's quite the opposite, and getting "softened up" like that is a bad way to head into your next game or series. The Yankees/Angels 3-game series was about as close as could be for the first 24 of the 27 innings until a poor performance from an Angels reliever last night (4 walks!) allowed the Yankees to bust the game open. So now the Yankees are moving on to San Francisco, and this is looking to me like it will be a difficult task for the vaunted Yanks. Why? Well, let's look at how those previous 11 teams fared in their next game after finishing up a series against the Angels with a win.
1) The Red Sox buried the Angels 12-2 on April 7th. On April 9th, they hosted the Orioles and lost 7-1.
2) The Rays defeated the Angels 4-2 on April 10th. On April 12th, they hosted the Giants and won 2-1.
3) The Red Sox defeated the Angels 5-4 on April 14th. The next day, they hosted the Cleveland team and lost 6-0 as a -150 favorite.
4) The Rays defeated the Angels 2-1 on April 18th. The next day, they visited the Yankees and lost 5-3.
5) The Reds defeated the Angels 3-0 on April 21st. The next day, they hosted the Phillies and lost 7-0.
6) The Orioles defeated the Angels 6-5 on April 24th. On April 26th, they hosted the A's and lost 3-2 as a -280 favorite.
7) The Twins bashed the Angels 11-5 on April 28th. The next day, they visited the White Sox and won 3-2 as a -160 favorite.
8) The Phillies defeated the Angels 2-1 on May 1st. On May 3rd, they hosted the Giants and won 4-3 as a -170 favorite.
9) The Cleveland team defeated the Angels 4-1 on May 5th. The next day, they hosted the Tigers and won 4-3.
10) The Royals defeated the Angels 4-2 on May 12th. The next day, they visited the Mariners and lost 6-2.
11) The Cleveland team defeated the Angels 5-4 on May 26th. The next day, they visited the Rockies and lost 8-6.
That's a 4-7 record and a perfect 0-11 against the -1.5 runline! Squeaking out a 1-run win was the best any of these team could manage. Six of the seven losses were by more than one run, and in fact those 7 teams lost by a cumulative 42-14!
If you were considering betting the Yankees on the runline tonight, consider instead a bet on the Giants, or Giants +1.5, or even the Giants -1.5. I intend to bet all three of those.
and thanx for the post 
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