The New York Yankees continue to ride Giancarlo Stanton’s red-hot bat as they have now won seven of their last eight games overall.
The Bronx Bombers will be big favorites when they go for the sweep against the Houston Astros as they hand the ball to ace Gerrit Cole for the series finale.
Check out our best free MLB betting picks and predictions for Astros vs. Yankees on Thursday, May 6, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET.
Astros vs Yankees odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Compare MLB odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
MLB Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonDraftKings opened New York -200 Wednesday night, and that's where the moneyline stands at 12:30 p.m. ET. Ticket count is 4/1 and money beyond 5/1 on the Yankees. The total opened at 7.5 (Under -114) and is now 7.5 (Under -120), with ticket count almost dead even and 60 percent of money on the Under.
Check out the full line movement for this gameAstros vs Yankees betting preview
Starting pitchers
Lance McCullers Jr. (2-1, 3.38 ERA): McCullers obviously isn’t Gerrit Cole but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been impressive. The right-hander has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his five starts this season and is coming off a game where he shut out the Tampa Bay Rays over seven innings on just three hits while striking out nine.
Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.43 ERA): Cole has been absolutely dealing to start the season. The right-hander has allowed a total of six earned runs over his six starts and his 62 strikeouts are the second most by a Yankees pitcher in any calendar month, trailing only Ron Guidry's 64 in June 1978.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Astros: Martin Maldonado C (Questionable), Enoli Paredes RP (Out), Pedro Baez RP (Out), Blake Taylor RP (Out), Austin Pruitt RP (Out), Josh James RP (Out).
Yankees: Rougned Odor 2B (Out), Luke Voit 1B (Out), Darren O'Day RP (Out), Zack Britton RP (Out), Clarke Schmidt RP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 4-2 when Gerrit Cole starts this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Astros vs. Yankees.
Moneyline pick
The Yankees are playing much better of late but are they worth the price tag in this game? Obviously, Cole is one of the best pitchers you can back in the game and the Yankees’ bats are starting to come around.
Stanton and his 11-game hit streak have led the way for the Bronx Bombers. Stanton is hitting nearly .480 during the hitting streak and has slugged five dingers and is a big part of the Yankees plating roughly 5.5 runs over their last eight contests.
The only problem is the cheating Astros are a pretty darn good team at this point as well. They are sending one of their best starters to the bump in McCullers and they are better overall at the dish right now than the Yanks. Houston ranks seven in scoring, fourth in average, and 11th in OPS.
But what will be the most interesting part of this matchup is that the Astros strike out fewer than any team in baseball. This game is too close to pass up on the Astros as massive dogs.
PREDICTION: Astros (+175)
Over/Under pick
When it comes to the total this is about as straightforward as it gets. Frankly, it’s a little surprising the number isn’t even lower. So, jump on the 7.5 before it drops.
Cole is incredible. Here’s what he currently leads the majors in: FIP (0.48), WHIP (0.72) walks per nine innings (0.7), strikeouts per nine innings (14.8) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (20.7). I don’t care who he's facing, Cole is capable of shutting them down.
While McCullers isn’t Cole, he’s been great in his own right. His 3.38 ERA and 1.05 WHIP are solid, but his most impressive stat is that he's limiting opponents to a .152 batting average. And while Stanton is clubbing balls, many of the Yanks can’t say the same.
Bet the Over at your own risk.
PREDICTION: Under 7.5 (-110)
Astros vs Yankees betting card
- Astros (+175)
- Under 7.5 (-110)
Picks made on 5/06/2021 at 8:30 a.m. ET
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