New York Yankees at Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview
Even the mighty Yankees fall occasionally. After dropping the first game of a two-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates (33-47), the New York Yankees (58-23) will look to split the series on Wednesday. Pittsburgh will host this one at PNC Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm ET.
The Pirates won Tuesday’s opener 5-2. In the win, Jose Quintana went five innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out seven.
Offensively, Dan Vogelbach hit his 11th home run of the season while Jack Suwinski hit his 14th. In total, the team had nine hits.
Jameson Taillon picked up just his second loss of the season in the Yankees’ defeat. He allowed five runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of work.
Isaiah Kiner-Falefa had three hits while Matt Carpenter and Gleyber Torres had two apiece, but it wasn’t enough for the Yankees to keep up with the Pirates.
Despite playing on the road, the Yankees are heavy favorites on Wednesday. They are -245 to win while the Pirates’ moneyline sits at +200. The runline features Pittsburgh +1.5 (+126), and the over/under for total runs is nine.
Yankees Look To Improve MLB’s Best Record
At 58-23, the New York Yankees have the best record in baseball and hold a 13-game lead in the AL East. As they look to split the series in Pittsburgh, they will also be looking to improve on their 24-14 road record.
Taking the ball for Aaron Boone’s squad will be righty Luis Severino. In 14 games this season, Severino is 4-3 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, and he has 91 strikeouts in 78 innings.
Severino is coming off of back-to-back losses to the Houston Astros, where he gave up a combined five runs in 12 innings of work. He allowed eight hits while striking out 11 in that span.
Offensively, Aaron Judge continues to hammer the ball and is the favorite to win the AL MVP this season at +100. In 299 at bats, he is hitting .281/.360/.612 with a team-leading 29 home runs, 60 runs batted in, and 64 runs scored.
Matt Carpenter has been a huge pickup for the Yankees this year. Not only did he do well in Tuesday’s game, but he has been one of the Yankees’ hottest hitters in the last week, hitting .455/.455/1.000 with two home runs and five runs batted in.
Pirates Looking To Earn Respect
While 33-47 is nothing to get excited about, this is the first time in a while that the Pirates have been as high as third place in the NL Central this late into the season. Still, as they sit 12.5 games back in the division, they are just looking to earn some respect as they take on the team with the best record in baseball.
Taking the mound for the Pirates for the finale will be 26-year-old righty Mitch Keller. In 15 games, he is 2-5 with a 5.14 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, and has 59 strikeouts in 70 innings of work.
Keller took a no-decision in his last start, but he was roughed up a bit. In four innings, he gave up nine hits, five earned runs, and walked four.
At the plate, 23-year-old outfielder Jack Suwinski continues to turn heads. In just 194 at bats, he has the second-most home runs on the team with 14 while hitting .227/.312/.490.
The best hitter for Pittsburgh has been Bryan Reynold. He is hitting .256/.330/.464 with a team-leading 15 home runs, 32 runs batted in, and 38 runs scored.
Take The Yankees To Win And Cover
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. Even though the Pittsburgh Pirates are not even in the same stratosphere in terms of talent as the Yankees, they were able to take Tuesday’s opener. Don’t expect a repeat on Wednesday.
With a far superior offense (Yankees rank 2nd in scoring, Pirates rank 28th) and a much stronger starting pitcher, this is a game that the Yankees should be able to take easily.
Granted, New York is just 1-4 in their last five games at PNC, but this is just too good of a roster to be upset two days in a row.
Expect the Yankees to come back with a vengeance and expect them to both win and cover.
Take New York to cover the -1.5 runline (-152).
