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Astros vs Yankees Odds and Picks – McCullers vs Cole (May 6)

John Perrotto

by John Perrotto in MLB Baseball

Updated May 6, 2021 · 7:48 AM PDT

Gerrit Cole warmup
New York Yankees' starting pitcher Gerrit Cole exercises before a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland, Sunday, April 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
  • The New York Yankees are -205 favorites over the Houston Astros on Thursday at Yankee Stadium
  • Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.43 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Yankees against Lance McCullers Jr. (2-1, 3.38)
  • A look at the Astros-Yankees matchup along with a pick can be found below

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole faces his old team when New York hosts the Houston Astros at 1:05 p.m. ET, Thursday, at Yankee Stadium, attempting to sweep the three-game series.

Cole (4-1, 1.43 ERA) pitched for the Astros from 2018-19, going 35-10 with a 2.68 ERA in 65 starts over two seasons, before signing a nine-year, $324-million contract with the Yankees as a free agent. New York (16-14) is on a season-best five-game winning streak.

Lance McCullers Jr. (2-1, 3.38) will start for the Astros (15-15), who have lost three games in a row to drop to .500 and are substantial underdogs in this game.

Astros vs Yankees Odds

Team Moneyline Runline Total at DraftKings
Houston Astros +172 +1.5 (-126) Over 7.5 (-110)
New York Yankees -205 -1.5 (+105) Under 7.5 (-110)

Odds as of May 5th.

McCullers Looking Sharp

McCullers is coming of his best start of the season as he threw seven shutout innings last Saturday to beat the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg.

McCullers allowed three hits and three walks while striking out nine. McCullers also threw 111 pitches, his highest total since 2016 and before he had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery.

In his last two starts, McCullers has given up just two runs in 13 innings. Overall this season, he has allowed two runs or fewer in four of five outings.

McCullers has never lost to the Yankees. He is 2-0 with a 2.59 ERA in four regular season starts and allowed only one run in 10 innings in the 2017 American League Championship Series while notching a save.

Yankee Stadium has not been intimidating for McCullers as he has been touched for only one run in 12 career innings (regular season and postseason combined) in the Bronx.

Perhaps the secret to McCullers success in New York is engaging the fans.

Yankees Career Stats vs McCullers

Player AB H HR RBI K AVG
DJ LeMahieu 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Giancarlo Stanton 3 1 0 0 1 .333
Aaron Judge 8 2 0 0 1 .000
Gio Urshela 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Gleyber Torres 2 0 0 1 1 .000
Mike Ford 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Aaron Hicks 7 1 0 0 3 .143
Kyle Higashioka 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Clint Frazier 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Giancarlo Stanton has been red hot for the Yankees with at least three hits in five of his last six games and on an overall 11-game hitting streak that has raised his batting average from .158 to .314. Stanton is 24 for 48 (.500) during the streak with 10 runs, four doubles, five home runs and 10 RBIs.

Gleyber Torres has been on base in 10 straight games. DJ LeMahieu has reached base multiple times in six of their last eight games.

2024 Cy Young Odds Tracker
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Cole on a Roll

Cole finished April with 62 strikeouts, the second-most in a calendar month behind the 64 registered by Ron Guidry in June 1978. Cole has had at least eight strikeouts in all six starts this season and double digits four times.

His last time out, Cole was dominant as he shut out the Detroit Tigers over six innings last Friday. He allowed four hits, did not have any walks, and struck out 12.

Cole has not allowed more than two runs in any of his starts this season. Through his first 18 starts with the Yankees, Cole has an 11-4 record and a 2.36 ERA.

Cole has only faced the Astros once in his career. That was in 2016 when he was the Pittsburgh Pirates and he was tagged for five runs in five innings of a loss.

Astros Career Stats vs Cole

H HR RBI K AVG
Jose Altuve 2 0 0 1 1 .000
Michael Brantley 6 2 0 1 2 .333
Alex Bregman 3 1 0 0 0 .333
Yordan Alvarez 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Yuli Gurriel 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Carlos Correa 2 2 0 1 0 1.000
Kyle Tucker 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Myles Straw 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Jason Castro 2 0 0 0 1 .000

The Astros have been scuffling offensively the past few days as they have scored three runs or fewer in five of their last six games. However, the Astros +25 run differential entering is second in the AL to the Chicago White Sox’s +36.

Yesterday’s News

Stanton homered and knocked in four runs to lead the Yankees to their 10th win in the last 13 games, 6-3 over the Astros on Wednesday night. Aaron Hicks hit a tiebreaking single during a three-run eighth inning.

The Yankees also got three scoreless relief innings. Aroldis Chapman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save in as many opportunities to keep his ERA perfect at 0.00.

Tough to Buck Cole

The moneyline is high, as it usually is whenever Cole takes the mound. Yet it is way to go in this game as the big right-hander has been dominant all season.

The Pick: Yankees (-205)

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