The chases for playoff positions in Major League Baseball are heating up, and if recent action serves any indication, the next month and a half of pennant race baseball figures to be very exciting. This weekend's schedule will bring several key series? affecting the standings, none bigger than the three game set in the American League between the Indians and Yankees from Jacobs Field.



Though losing seven of 10 games on their most recent homestand, Cleveland still boasts an impressive record at home, going 37-22 (63%) so far in 2007. However, they'll need their pitching staff to be on top of their games, since New York's bats have been red-hot since the all-star break. In fact, in their last 11 games, the Yankees have crossed the plate 8.8 times per contest. This should be an exciting series filled with plenty of fireworks. The series price finds New York as a ?120 favorite at Sportsbook.com.

The Yankees have been feasting on sub-.500 teams since the All-Star break. This will be their first real test against another playoff contender in quite awhile. They have thrust themselves back into the playoff hunt by going 20-8 since the mid-summer classic. However, that surge came against the likes of Kansas City, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Toronto and the White Sox. Starting with the Indians, New York will spend much of the rest of the month fighting with playoff contenders. The Bronx Bombers are currently one game behind the Seattle Mariners in the wild card race and six back of Boston in the East standings.

Cleveland has climbed back to the top of the AL Central race, but more so due to the struggles of the Tigers than their own merits. With a 5-7 mark in their last 12 games, the Indians bats have really struggled, scoring just 39 runs in that stretch. They have lost a ton of money for their backers as well, losing four of those seven games as a favorite of at least ?145. Fortunately, Detroit has won just four of its last 17 games. Plus, the Tribe showed signs of breaking out in the last two games of the recent White Sox series, reaching the double digit hit mark in both games.

Before digging in to the pitching matchups for each of the three games of the set, here is a list of some key team trends that could affect the outcome of this series:

Favoring New York

* NY YANKEES are 32-8 (+17.0 Units) against the money line vs. teams whose hitters strike out 7 or more times/game over the last 2 seasons. The average score was NY YANKEES 7.1, OPPONENT 4.2 - (Rating = 1*)

* CLEVELAND is 18-33 (-18.5 Units) against the money line vs. teams outscoring opp by 0.5 or more runs/game in the second half of the season over the last 3 seasons. The average score was CLEVELAND 4.5, OPPONENT 5.1 - (Rating = 1*)

Favoring Cleveland

* NY YANKEES are 26-30 (-14.3 Units) against the money line in road games this season. The average score was NY YANKEES 5.1, OPPONENT 4.6 - (Rating = 1*)

Favoring OVER the Total

* NY YANKEES are 19-4 OVER (+15.0 Units) as a road underdog of +100 to +150 over the last 2 seasons. The average score was NY YANKEES 6.2, OPPONENT 6.2 - (Rating = 3*)

Favoring UNDER the Total

* WEDGE is 36-21 UNDER (+13.2 Units) in home games in August games as the manager of CLEVELAND.

The average score was CLEVELAND 4.8, OPPONENT 3.8 - (Rating = 1*)