Let's stop this nonsense of the New York Yankees having any chance at the playoffs. It's a fact they will miss out for just the second time since the Jeter-Rivera-Posada dynasty started in 1995. We should be focusing more on whether the Yankees can finish above .500. Their last losing season was in 1992, which was their fourth straight losing year at the time.

The only people who benefitted from Alex Rodriguez's season debut on Monday night were television viewers, as the YES Network had season-high ratings.  A-Rod formally appealed his suspension on Wednesday and no doubt will be able to finish out the season because it will take a while for that process to run its course. He's pretty clearly been a distraction to the team as it was just swept three games by a White Sox team that entered that series on a 10-game skid and is the worst team in the American League  not located in Houston. A-Rod is 3-for-11 with two walks and two strikeouts.

Mariano Rivera actually blew a save in Wednesday's loss and sort of blamed Rodriguez when Adam Dunn's two-out, two-strike tying single got by A-Rod. Here's what Rivera said: "I thought Alex was right there, but when I saw it was to his left, a little too far for him. That was that." 

It was just the second time in Rivera's career he allowed a game-tying or go-ahead hit with two outs and an 0-2 count in ninth inning or later. In a classy move, the White Sox fans gave Rivera a standing ovation when he entered as it was New York's final game this season in Chicago. New York finished an eight-game road trip at 2-6 and has lost 14 of its past 20 to sit at 57-56. As of Thursday, it is 11.5 games out of first in the AL East and seven games out of the second wild-card spot.

It's over Yankees fans. I will be fascinated to see how they treat A-Rod in his first home game Friday night against Detroit. The last time the Tigers visited Yankee Stadium, they won the first two games of the 2012 ALCS on the way to the humbling sweep of New York.

Tigers at Yankees Betting Story Lines

The good news for New York is that its current best pitcher is on the mound for Friday's series opener in Ivan Nova (5-4, 3.08). He blanked the Padres on four hits over seven innings while striking out eight last time out. He hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his past eight starts. But the Yankees aren't scoring much for him and have lost five of those. In fact, the Yanks have scored three runs or fewer in six of those starts. Nova pitched in Detroit in his first start of 2013, allowing four runs in 4.2 innings. He's 0-2 with an 8.83 ERA in four career appearances against Detroit. Austin Jackson is 5-for-10 with three RBI in his career off Nova. Miguel Cabrera, who hasn't quite been as good since the break (he was hurt a bit), is 2-for-8 with a homer and three RBI of Nova. Prince Fielder also has a homer in seven at-bats.

Detroit starts the weak link of its rotation in Rick Porcello (8-6, 4.28). I should have said "was" the weak link of the rotation. The righty has really found his groove of late, going 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in his past five starts. He hasn't faced the Yankees this year and is 3-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 35.1 career innings against them. Porcello's road ERA of 3.69 is more than a full point better than at Comerica Park. A-Rod is 2-for-7 in his career off Porcello. Travis Hafner has two homers and six RBI career off Porcello but is on the DL, as is Derek Jeter (again). Ichiro is 7-for-22 with three RBI off Porcello.

Cool information from Forbes. Say will you will about A-Rod, and he's a lying cheat, but he's interesting. Ticket prices for Friday's game are skyrocketing. TiqIQ told Forbes that as of Thursday the current average price to A-Rod’s homecoming is $112.15 per ticket and the current get-in price is $49 (up 104.17% from Monday afternoon’s get-in price of $24). I don't expect a warm welcome. He was never popular in New York as it was. Barry Bonds, for example, was at least loved in San Francisco.

Tigers at Yankees Betting Odds and Trends

At BetOnline, the Tigers opened at -111 with the Yankees at +101 and the total at eight. All Tigers trends through Thursday: Detroit is 58-51-3 “over/under” (27-28-1 on road) and 56-56 on the runline. New York is 44-61-1 O/U (23-28-3 at home) and 59-54 on the runline.

The Tigers are 5-1 in Porcello's past six series-opening starts. They are 1-4 in his past five against teams with a winning record and 0-5 in his past five against the AL East. The Yankees are 1-6 in their past seven against righty starters. New York has lost six straight series openers. It is 4-0 in Nova's past 13 against teams with a winning record. The under is 6-0 in Porcello's past six on the road. The under is 5-0 in Nova's past five against teams with a winning record. The over is 10-4 in the past 14 meetings in New York.

MLB Picks: Tigers at Yankees Betting Predictions

Detroit took two of three at home from the Yankees in the second series of the season. New York won two of three at home in the Tigers' lone visit last year before dropping both home games in the ALCS.

I see why the Tigers are favored here considering they are rolling big time. However, they might be due a bit of a letdown after just thumping the Indians in a big series. Plus the Tigers had to travel overnight from Cleveland (not that it's too far) and New York was off Thursday. I think the Bombers are good underdog value here. Take the over.

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