The New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians square off on Saturday with first pitch set for 12:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Following Friday’s postponement, Yankees scheduled starter Gerrit Cole will now be on the bump for this game. The Guardians have decided to move Aaron Civale back to the nightcap of today’s doubleheader and will put left-handed rookie Kirk McCarty on the mound.
The Yankees (56-21) have been in a relative slump of late, going “only” 7-5 in their past 12 games. But to put it another way, they are 21-3 since May 31 against all teams except the Astros. Giancarlo Stanton has five home runs and 10 RBIs in his past seven games. Cole threw 6.2 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts when these teams met in the Bronx back in April (a three-game Yankees sweep).
The Guardians (39-34) are hoping to carry over any momentum they gained in their walk-off victories in their past two games. Andres Gimenez authored Thursday’s walk-off with a three-run homer. He is hitting .337 with five home runs and 17 RBIs over his past 27 games. McCarty has made two appearances as a major leaguer — one start and one relief appearance. That relief appearance came in his MLB debut against the Yankees on April 24. He allowed four runs over three innings. He then gave up eight hits and four earned runs in a loss to the Rangers on June 7.
Yankees vs. Guardians
Pitchers: Gerrit Cole vs. Kirk McCarty
First pitch: 12:10 p.m.
Yankees local broadcast: Amazon Prime Video
Guardians local broadcast: Bally Sports Great Lakes
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Yankees -1.5 (-180)
Run total: 8.5
Moneyline odds: Yankees -320, Guardians +265
Moneyline pick: Yankees -320
Yeah, this probably won’t be pretty for Cleveland. They are sending out a rookie pitcher who has allowed five homers in seven innings this year to face the team that leads the world in home runs. And he’ll have to match one of the best pitchers in the game. Take the Guardians at your own peril.
Player prop pick: Giancarlo Stanton OVER 0.5 home runs
Given McCarty’s proclivity for giving up dingers, a Yankees homer player prop seems appropriate today. There are plenty of options here — Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, even DJ LeMahieu, who did homer against McCarty back in April. But let’s side with the elite slugger who has been on somewhat of a home run tear recently.
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