Athletics-Yankees prediction: Picks, odds on Monday, May 8

The Oakland Athletics take on the New York Yankees in the first game of a three-game series on Monday, May 8. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium. JP Sears (0-2, 5.06 ERA) will take the mound for the A's, while Nestor Cortes (3-2, 4.91) looks to get back on track for the Yankees.

New York is a heavy -200 moneyline favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, with Oakland coming in at +170. The total is set at 8.5.

Yankees

Out: OF Aaron Judge (hip), DH Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring), SP Carlos Rodon (back), SP Luis Severino (lat), C Ben Rortvedt (shoulder)

Athletics

Out: SP Paul Blackburn (finger), RP Trevor May (personal), INF Aledmys Diaz (elbow), OF Seth Brown (oblique), C Manny Pina (wrist)

JP Sears vs. Nestor Cortes

Sears is coming off his first scoreless outing of the season, pitching six shutout innings against the Seattle Mariners. This was a much-needed bounce back from a six-run, 4.1-inning start before that against the Los Angeles Angels. The lefty struck out seven in his most recent appearance, but while he's shown swing-and-miss stuff this year, he's gotten hit awfully hard when he's not missing bats and could give up plenty of homers against a Yankees offense that seems to be hitting its stride.

Cortes had a rough time against the Texas Rangers in his latest outing, giving up seven runs and three homers over just 4.2 innings. He had not allowed more than three runs in a start before that game. He still struck out seven batters in the rough start, though.

Neither of these teams bring particularly high-scoring offenses to the diamond. I don't see the Athletics heating things up very much – as has been the case all season – and the Yankees are missing some of their biggest hitters due to injury.

Pick: Under 8.5

While the Yankees struggled in their latest series against the Tampa Bay Rays, this is a great opportunity for them to come back to their home stadium and pull things together against a team that does not have a ton to offer. Despite several stars being sidelined, the veteran Cortes should be able to get things done at Yankee Stadium.

Pick: Yankees

  
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