Yankees vs Guardians Series Betting: New York Continues Lengthy Road Trip
Yanks Looking to Rebound After Setback in Houston
Beginning Thursday night in Houston, the New York Yankees will play 10 road games in four cities in 11 days, capping it with their first trip this season to Fenway Park. It didn’t begin in great fashion, as the Bombers fell 2-1 in their pigeon-holed one-game series against the Astros, ending a four-game winning streak. The Yankees will try to bounce back during their visit to Cleveland this weekend. Let’s dive into a few of the storylines as we analyze some Yankees vs Guardians series betting tips.
Opening Game Information
- Game: Yankees (56-21) at Guardians (39-34)
- Location: Progressive Field
- Day/Time
- Television: BSGL
Yankees vs Guardians Probable Starting Pitchers
- Friday: Gerrit Cole (Yankees) vs. Aaron Civale (Guardians)
- Saturday: Nestor Cortes (Yankees) vs Triston McKenzie (Guardians)
- Sunday: Jordan Montgomery (Yankees) vs Zach Plesac (Guardians)
Astros Knock Off Yanks Again
In their historic start, the Yankees have played 14 different teams and they’ve posted a winning record thus far against 13 of them. That one outlier is the Houston Astros, who improved to 3-2 vs New York on Thursday and who are just a couple of late collapses away from a 5-0 mark against the Yanks.
“They’re good,” manager Aaron Boone said of Houston on Thursday. “They’re one of the best teams at keeping you from scoring as there is. So they’ve done a good job for the most part, holding us down.”
New York continues to lead the majors in runs scored but it ended June by producing two runs or fewer in four of its last seven games. Aaron Judge is 3-for-27 in that span (one of the hits being a walk-off three-run blast vs Houston) and the team as a whole is hitting .159.
It’s been somewhat under the radar, but New York Yankees games of late have been a bit more of a grind. They’ve needed many of their MLB-leading 24 comebacks wins to avoid a legit slump.
The Yankees’ big bats were just starting to perk up when they first faced Cleveland back in April. The judge had a pair of homers in the opener of the three-game set in the Bronx, and New York finished the sweep with a 10-2 win in which it recorded three more home runs and a season-high five doubles.
Cleveland’s rotation has allowed 56 home runs, third-most in the AL. Perhaps that will sway your Yankees vs Guardians series betting strategy.
Guardians Running the Gauntlet
With Thursday’s 5-3 walk-off win vs Minnesota, the Guardians pulled to within one game in the AL Central as they continued to be among the game’s more surprising teams. They’re mostly staying afloat during what has to be one of the more brutal schedules stretches in the game.
Beginning June 17 and including this weekend’s series, Cleveland will have played 17 games in 17 days exclusively against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Twins, and Yankees – four teams who entered Friday a combined 71 games over .500.
That’s the best team in the AL, the best team in the NL, the AL Central leaders, and a second-place team that just polished off a 20-6 June, all in less than three weeks. Quite a challenge, but one the Guardians have mostly met – back-to-back walk-off wins vs Minnesota this week gave them a 7-7 mark since the first game against the Dodgers on June 17.
“Our guys never give up and I think that’s a sign of the team coming together,” general manager Mike Chernoff told reporters Thursday. “You can see the energy in the dugout, but also the sign of a team that we think can do real things moving forward, also.”
The Cleveland Guardians stats page won’t wow anyone. They rank 28th in the majors in homers with 56, not even close to half of New York’s MLB-leading 127. The offense is 21st in OPS and the pitching staff has a somewhat mediocre 3.84 ERA.
On paper, this team – among the youngest in the game – should be wilting against the behemoths it has faced the past few weeks. But it has survived and has an opportunity to finish the challenge on a positive note this weekend before things soften up with Detroit, Kansas City, and Chicago on the horizon.
Who’s Hot
- Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees RF/DH: 7-for-25 with five homers over his last seven games.
- Albert Abreu, Yankees RP: 4⅓ scoreless innings, five strikeouts in three games since being claimed off waivers on June 21.
- Steven Kwan, Guardians LF: Hit .341 in June.
- Emmanuel Clase, Guardians RP: One win, 11 saves, and no runs allowed in 15 June appearances.
Who’s Not
- Josh Donaldson, Yankees 3B: 5-for-32 over his last nine games.
- Jose Trevino, Yankees C: 5-for-36 over his last 12 games.
- Jose Ramirez, Guardians 3B: .250 with no homers in his last 13 games; AL RBI leader has just one in last 14 games.
- Franmil Reyes, Guardians DH: Four home runs in 43 games after slugging 30 in 115 last year.
Injury Updates
- Yankees LHP Aroldis Chapman is expected to be activated Friday after recovering from an Achilles injury.
- Guardians RF Oscar Gonzalez was scratched from Thursday’s lineup due to abdominal tightness.
- Guardians C Austin Hedges could return this weekend from a concussion.
Yankees vs Guardians Series Betting Tips
New York has won seven of 10 meetings over the past two seasons, including three of four in Cleveland. That trend could very well continue, especially with definitive advantages on the mound in each of the first two games.
Cole and Cortes are a combined 12-5 and both have sub-3.00 ERAs, while Civale’s season has been a dismal one and McKenzie has given up 13 runs in 10⅓ innings over his last two starts.
As mentioned earlier, what we see on paper doesn’t always apply to the field when it comes to the Guardians. But the Yankees’ bats have been looking for something to feast on the past week or so, and they just might get it early in this series.
Be mindful of href=”https://www.mlb.com/player/zach-plesac-668676″>Zach Plesac’s current run if you’re analyzing the finale on Sunday. He has produced six straight-quality starts.
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