Rays vs. Yankees prediction: Picks, odds, live stream, TV channel, start time on Saturday, August 20

The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees square off on Saturday with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY, and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. The Yankees, in desperate need of a win, will send Gerrit Cole to the mound. The Blue Jays will give the ball to right-hander Mitch White.

The Blue Jays (64-54) rolled to a 4-0 win in Friday's series opener behind seven strong innings from pitcher Kevin Gausman and a long two-run homer by Teoscar Hernandez. Toronto trailed New York by 15.5 games in the AL East just a few weeks ago; that deficit has been trimmed to eight games. Toronto has won its past three games and will look to extend that streak today behind White. Acquired from the Dodgers at the trade deadline, White has recorded a 3.86 ERA across 9.1 innings (two starts) with the Blue Jays.

There's not much good to say right now about the Yankees (73-47). They have dropped 13 of their last 16 games and have been held to three or fewer runs in 12 of those contests. This is only the third time in the Wild Card Era that the Yanks have lost 13 times in a 16-game span. Furthermore, they are 12-24 since the start of play on July 9. Aaron Judge is still on pace for 62 home runs, but he hasn't gone deep in his past seven games, matching his longest HR drought of the year. He has two hits in his previous 23 at-bats. Cole has been good this year, but far from a shutdown ace. He has a 3.88 ERA over his past eight starts.

Rays vs. Yankees

Pitchers: Mitch White vs. Gerrit Cole
First pitch: 1:05 p.m. ET
Blue Jays local broadcast: Sportsnet
Yankees local broadcast: YES
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Yankees -1.5 (+115)
Run total: 7.5
Moneyline odds: Yankees -180, Blue Jays +155

Moneyline pick: Blue Jays +155

Again, Cole has been fine this season, but in terms of ERA+, this is his worst year since 2017. He's not the invincible hurler that he was in 2019 or even last year. And the Blue Jays hit him hard when they saw him in April. With the Yankees' offense in the doldrums, betting on the Blue Jays here provides good value.

Player prop pick: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. OVER 0.5 home runs (+450)

It makes little sense that Gleyber Torres, Josh Donaldson and Matt Chapman have shorter odds than Vlad to hit a home run today. He has really good numbers against Cole and bashed two homers off of him in April. Vlad has an OPS near 1.000 with six homers over his previous 27 games.

  
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