Yankees vs. Athletics predictions: Picks, odds, live stream, TV channel, start time on Friday, August 26

The New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics square off on Friday with first pitch set for 9:40 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland. and will be available to watch on ESPN+. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will be on the mound for the visitors, and he will match up against former Yankees prospect JP Sears.

The Yankees (77-48) scored 13 runs in a series-opening victory on Thursday. That's the most runs the Yanks have scored in a game without the use of a home run in more than 20 years. Andrew Benintendi, Josh Donaldson and Oswaldo Cabrera each had three hits, and Giancarlo Stanton picked up three RBI in his first game back from the injured list. One bad inning did in Cole during his last start, a loss to the Blue Jays. His 3.41 ERA is his highest since 2017.

The Athletics (46-80) have the second-worst record in MLB and are at the very bottom of the American League. Catcher Sean Murphy is hitting .329 with a .975 OPS in 22 games this month. And rookie backstop Shea Langeliers has posted a .953 OPS with seven extra-base hits through his first nine games in the majors. Sears was dealt from the Yankees as part of the August 1 trade that brought starting pitcher Frankie Montas to the Bronx. He has a 1.04 ERA across five starts (26 innings) split between the two clubs this year.

Yankees vs. Athletics

Pitchers: Gerrit Cole vs. JP Sears
First pitch: 9:40 p.m. ET
Yankees local broadcast: Amazon Prime Video
Athletics local broadcast: NBC Sports California
Live stream: WatchESPN, ESPN app with an ESPN+ subscription

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Yankees -1.5 (-130)
Run total: 7
Moneyline odds: Yankees -240, Athletics +200

Moneyline pick: Yankees -240

This has all the makings of a low-scoring game early before the A's bullpen gets involved around the sixth inning. Those final few innings could easily see the over hit here. The Yankees are just 4-11 in their previous 15 games at Oakland, but with their lineup getting healthier, they should be able to defeat the toothless A's tonight.

Player prop pick: Gerrit Cole UNDER 7.5 strikeouts

Cole has finished shy of eight strikeouts in each of his past two starts and three of his past six. The A's do a pretty good job of making contact (albeit often weak) and have recorded the sixth-fewest strikeouts in the majors over the previous 30 days.

  
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