It's a battle of first against one of the worst in the Big Apple on Thursday night.

The New York Yankees will be huge favorites on Thursday when they host the lowly Kansas City Royals (7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network).

The Yankees are listed as -305 favorites at SBG Global and the total is set at 9 (under -115). On the runline, the Yanks are getting a rare double negative: -1.5 (-140). The Royals are listed at +1.5 (+120).

The Yankees are even bigger favorites than normal in this game because of the pitching matchup. The Royals are going with veteran left-hander Bruce Chen while the Yankees will be sending ace southpaw CC Sabathia to the mound.

Chen has not been that bad for Kansas City this MLB betting season: he is 5-3 with a 4.06 ERA. Chen did not pitch that well in his last start though as he gave up four earned runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Chen is 1-1 in his last three starts with a 4.41 ERA. He has had very little success in his career against the Yankees having gone 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA.

Sabathia is having another excellent season for New York. He is 12-3 with a 3.13 ERA. He had won eight straight until getting a no-decision in his last start. He has owned the Royals recently having gone 8-0 in his last 10 starts against them.

The Royals continue to struggle against left-handers. They are 20-42 in their last 62 games vs. a left-handed starter. The Royals are 3-7 in Chen’s last 10 road starts. Kansas City almost never wins in New York. The Royals are 5-25 in the last 30 meetings in New York.

New York has done well against left-handers recently. The Yankees are 5-0 in their last five games vs. a left-handed starter. The Yankees are 71-25 in their last 96 home games. The Yankees are 19-7 in Sabathia’s last 26 home starts.

Looking at the total, the under is 4-1-1 in the Royals' last six games vs. a left-handed starter. The under is 5-2-1 in Chen’s last eight road starts.

The over is 4-1 in the Yankees' last five games vs. a left-handed starter. The under is 12-5-2 in Sabathia’s last 19 home starts.

The under is 12-3-2 in the last 17 meetings between the two teams.

SBG Global is a veteran in the online sports betting business and is one of SharpBettor.com's trusted partners.