The New York Yankees are well below .500 since the All-Star break, but they may have turned things around on a three-game winning streak and are expected to get back former NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton from injury for Thursday’s series opener in Oakland./p>

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Yankees vs. Athletics Game Information

Bronx Beauty. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/jddzivecBT

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 24, 2022

• When: Thursday, August 25, 2022, 7:05 PM ET
• Where: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA
• TV: YES, NBCSCA
• Radio: WFAN 660 (Yankees) // Bloomberg 960 AM (Athletics)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Odds: Yankees (-222) // Athletics (+189)

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Why bet on the New York Yankees?

While the Yankees were in no danger of losing their AL East Division lead, they had fallen well behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in baseball and home-field advantage throughout the World Series and also had fallen behind the Houston Astros for the best record in the American League.

The offense had really been in a funk since the break but the Yankees avoided a home sweep against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 4-2 win on Sunday and then swept the visiting New York Mets on Monday and Tuesday by identical scores of 4-2 for their first three-game winning streak since July 28-30. The Yankees hadn’t even won back-to-back games since then before this mini-run.

After hitting his big-league leading 48th home run of the season on Tuesday, Aaron Judge became the sixth Yankee with at least 10 career homers against the Mets in the regular season, joining Derek Jeter (13), Alex Rodriguez (13), Jorge Posada (12), Mark Teixeira (11) and Robinson Canó (10). After not homering for nine games – a season-long drought — Judge has gone deep in back-to-back tilts.

His nearest challenger for the MLB home-run lead is Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, who has 34. The 14-homer gap would be the most anyone has won the MLB homer title by since 1933 when it also was 48-34 — Jimmie Foxx over Babe Ruth. Judge is now on pace for 62 homers, which would be the AL record.

Judge is only the third Yankee and the sixth Major League player (seventh time) to hit at least 48 home runs through his club’s first 124 games of a season. He has joined Barry Bonds (54HR in 2001 with SFG), Sammy Sosa (51HR in 1999 with CHC), Mark McGwire (50HR in 1999 and 49HR in 1998 with STL), Roger Maris (49HR in 1961 with NYY) and Babe Ruth (49HR in 1921 with NYY).

Stanton hasn’t played in the majors hasn’t played in the majors since July 23 due to an Achilles issue but is expected to be activated for Thursday’s game in Oakland and New York already cleared a spot for him by optioning outfielder Estevan Florial to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Tuesday’s game.

Stanton faced Luis Severino in the live batting practice on Tuesday and went through the rest of his pregame routine. To ensure no issues, Stanton likely will only be at DH for a while before playing in the outfield. Even after missing a month, he’s third on the team in homers (24), OPS (.807) and OPS-plus (128).

“I just want to jump in there and get some games under my belt to get a better gauge of it, but I help the team better when I’m in the outfield and make us more dynamic,” Stanton said. “So just as soon as possible.”

Though he’s been inconsistent for much of the season, Stanton’s ability to make pitchers work and the threat he presents even when he’s not clicking has been missed, with the Yankees having a difficult time finding players to support Judge in the heart of the lineup.

New York will start Jameson Taillon on the mound Thursday. Taillon (11-4) took the loss last Friday as the Yankees were downed 4-0 by the Blue Jays, giving up three runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out five without walking a batter. In six starts since the All-Star break, he’s posted a 4.45 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 31:12 K:BB through 32.1 innings, with the ERA being fueled by a 1.7 HR/9.

Why bet on the Oakland Athletics?

Oakland has the second-worst record in the majors and arguably its worst offense with a completely anonymous lineup. The A’s are simply playing out the string. They have set Oakland records for most rookies (27) and most rookie pitchers (15) used.

The A’s start James Kaprielian on Thursday – he’s not a rookie. Kaprielian (3-7) allowed two runs on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts over five innings, taking a no-decision in last Saturday’s extra-inning win over the Mariners. Kaprielian has walked four or more batters in five of his 20 starts this season, though this was the first time he hit that mark in his last seven outings. The right-hander improved his ERA to 4.29 with a 1.33 WHIP and 71:45 K:BB through 100.2 innings this year.

New York swept three home games vs. Oakland from June 27-29.

Yankees vs. Athletics Betting Trends

• Dodgers are 14-2 SU in the last 16 games.
• Dodgers are 6-1 SU in the last 7 games against Milwaukee.
• The total went under in 8 of LA Dodgers’ last 12 games when playing on the road against Milwaukee.
• Brewers are 5-10 SU in the last 15 games.
• Brewers are 2-4 SU in the last 6 games played in August.
• The total went under in 5 of Milwaukee’s last 7 games.

Yankees vs. Athletics Betting Prediction

Yankees runline.

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