Game 2 of the American League Division Series between the Guardians and Yankees from New York was postponed due to rain Thursday night but there will be no weather issues when they face off today at 1:07 ET on TBS. Despite Cleveland starting ace and former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, bettors are crushing the Yankees at -145 at BetMGM. The total opened at 6.5 runs but is down to 6 — the lowest of the season in any Yankee game. Click here for model picks.
On the moneyline, New York is taking 86% of t he money and 71% of the bets. On the total, 59% of the money is on the Under, but 56% of the tickets on the Over. The lowest previous total in a Yankees game was 6.5, which happened a handful of times. Most recently it was at home on Oct. 1 vs. Baltimore when Nestor Cortes was the starting pitcher, and he's on the mound today. That game was an 8-0 Yankees win.
The southpaw Cortes was the team's unlikely ace, going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. He allowed three runs or fewer in 25 of 28 starts, two or fewer in 21 and one or fewer in 15. That 2.44 ERA was the third-lowest by a Yankees pitcher in a single season in the Divisional Era since 1969, trailing only Ron Guidry's 1.74 ERA in 1978 and Steve Kline's 2.40 ERA in 1972.
Among pitchers with at least 150 innings pitched this season, Cortes ranked second in the majors in opponents' OBP (.241, second in AL) and opponents' OPS (.554, second in AL), and third in WHIP (0.92, second in AL) a nd opponents' BA (.189, second in AL). At home, Cortes was 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA in 15 starts. This will be his postseason debut. He did face Cleveland twice in the regular season, going 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA. Guardians All-Star Jose Ramirez is 0-for-7 off him.