Tied at 1-1 in the third game of a four-game set, the Yankees will face off against the Blue Jays with the first pitch expected at 7:05 p.m. ET.
These two teams are loaded with offensive talent with guys like Bo Bichette, Vlad Guerrero Jr., and Aaron Judge headlining tonight’s matchup. They will face off against Gerrit Cole and Jose Berrios respectively. These two lineups will not be welcomed sights for either hurler, though.
Interestingly, Aaron Judge has struggled early this year, but this could be his chance to right the ship against Berrios. Judge is 5-10 against Berrios with a 1.055 OPS. These two struggling pitchers look to anchor their respective rotations on Wednesday.
Blue Jays vs. Yankees odds and starting pitchers
Odds provided by BetMGM
Spread: NYY: -1.5 (+120) vs. TOR: +1.5: (-145)
Moneyline: NYY: -165 vs. TOR: +135
Total: Over 8.5 (-105) | Under 8.5 (-115)
Blue Jays vs. Yankees starting pitchers: Gerrit Cole vs. Jose Berrios
Red Sox fans bid good day to Gerrit Cole during the play-in game, October 2021 Getty ImagesYankees vs. Blue Jays prediction
Both the Yankees and the Blue Jays are 3-2 on the season and have shown some mixed results. This will be Berrios’ second start of the year and put together a pretty embarrassing first outing of the year against the Rangers. He didn’t last the inning, walked two batters, and surrendered four earned runs on three hits.
This is certainly a tougher matchup for Berrios as the Yankees’ offense is dangerous up and down. However, Berrios should be able to rebound as the last three years have been impressive. In fact, during his second half with the Blue Jays last year, he had some great peripheral stats like a 3.28 FIP and 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings; all career bests per baseball-reference.
Backing him is perhaps the best lineup in baseball put together by the Toronto Blue Jays. Gerrit Cole will have his hands full as he struggled a bit against the Red Sox; similar to how he did against the Red Sox in the playoff game last October. Cole lasted just four innings last time out and gave up three earned runs.
However, Cole fares quite well against the Blue Jays. Last year he faced them four times and won two of those games, one loss, and one no-decision. In his career, he has a 3.33 ERA against Toronto. Furthermore, only two starters on the Blue Jays are hitting above .300 against Cole. These two are Teoscar Hernandez (5-15) and George Springer (4-6).
The Yankees probably win this game but there is little value on them as betting favorites. Instead, I will target two prop bets for tonight’s game. Springer has been red hot the last two games and is over 1.5 bases in four straight games.
Moreover, getting two combined hits in the first inning is far from implausible when you have a Blue Jays lineup that starts with Springer, Bichette, Guerrero, and a Yankees one with Donaldson, Judge, and Rizzo.
