Yankees vs. Guardians prediction, odds, picks: Three props

The New York Yankees look to continue their run as the best team in baseball as they start a weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians tonight (6:10 p.m. Eastern). After dropping four of their last 10 games, which is an unusual sight for them this season, New York will look to get back to stringing together consecutive wins on their hunt for October.

The Yankees are solid across the board, owning the best team ERA in the Major Leagues at 2.92 while scoring the most runs in all of baseball with 384. Good pitching and good hitting is a pretty good way to be… well, good.

As the Yankees look to get underway in Cleveland, here are three prop bets worth posting, with odds courtesy of BetMGM.

Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees (6:10 p.m. Eastern, Bally Sports) Anthony Rizzo Over 0.5 RBI (+125)

While Aaron Judge is deservedly getting most of the attention for the boys in pinstripes with his MVP-caliber season, their star first baseman has been putting up numbers as well. Anthony Rizzo is third on the team with 51 RBIs this season, one behind Giancarlo Stanton and eight behind Judge. His 51 RBIs is good for 11th-most in MLB.

The Guardians are trotting out Aaron Civale to start the game, which doesn’t exactly instill much fear. Civale holds a 2-4 record with a 7.20 ERA this season with a .363 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). His fastball sits at about 90-91 MPH, and the Yankees lineup should have no problem racking up the runs against him.

Rizzo, batting in the three-hole behind Judge and in front of Stanton, will continue to get some of the best opportunities to compile RBIs in all of baseball.

Giancarlo Stanton Over 0.5 home runs (+240)

Everything that I just said about Civale applies here as well, but there’s something else worth noting – Civale’s splits against right handed batters are atrocious.

Against right handed bats like Stanton, Civale surrenders a .323 average, .548 slugging percentage, and gives up 1.64 home runs per nine innings. In his first time through opposing lineups, Civale has a 6.00 ERA. He has given up all six of his home runs this season in his first time through a lineup. 

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Stanton, who has 19 home runs this season, has hit 14 of them against right-handed pitchers, which Civale is. Stanton has a homer in five of his last seven games, and he’s in a prime spot to run into a mistake tonight.

Gerrit Cole Under 1.5 earned runs (+125)

Gerrit Cole, who is looking more and more like the ace that he is billed to be, has only allowed two earned runs in his last 14.1 innings pitched while striking out 20 batters. That’s good.

The Cleveland offense started the year hot, but has only cooled as the calendar continues to flip. Over the last 15 days, Cleveland ranks tied for 21st in runs scored with 49. The once red-hot batting average of the team has plummeted to 24th in the league, and they’ve hit the fifth-fewest home runs over the same span.

The Guardians offense is ice cold. Cole is red hot. Expect one of the best pitchers in baseball to look like it tonight in Cleveland.