With 26 games left to play the New York Yankees (79-57) remain entrenched in a close division race with the Orioles, as they enter Sunday's matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals (68-68) with just a one-game lead in the division. They have played to a record of just 32-27 versus teams below .500, and suffered another loss as a large favorite Saturday.
New York is heavily favored on the moneyline once again in this matchup, as Nestor Cortes will look to continue his home dominance in a matchup against struggling righty Miles Mikolas. Read below for my Cardinals vs. Yankees predictions for Sunday afternoon.
Cardinals vs Yankees pick: Over 9 (-110)
My Cardinals-Yankees pick is on the over, where I see value at a line of -110. The best line is available at FanDuel, as well as other sportsbooks — make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Sunday, Sept. 1
1:35 p.m. ET
MLB Network
Cardinals Odds | ||
---|---|---|
Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
+176 |
9 -110 / -110 |
+1.5 -118 |
Yankees Odds | ||
---|---|---|
Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
-210 |
9 -110 / -110 |
-1.5 -102 |
Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute MLB odds here.
RHP Miles Mikolas (STL) | Stat | LHP Nestor Cortes (NYY) |
---|---|---|
8-10 | W-L | 8-10 |
1.9 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 2.7 |
5.23/4.41 | ERA /xERA | 3.89/3.71 |
4.17/4.17 | FIP / xFIP | 3.86/4.20 |
1.26 | WHIP | 1.14 |
12.5% | K-BB% | 17.6% |
42.2% | GB% | 29.8% |
88 | Stuff+ | 100 |
108 | Location+ | 102 |
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Mikolas has pitched to a lot of contact this season with a strikeout rate of just 16.8% and a whiff-rate of just 16.2%, and has generated ground-balls only 42.2% of the time. That should make a matchup against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium far from ideal. He has not been in good form either recently, with an ERA of 5.07 over his last 55 innings, with an xFIP of 4.04.
Opponents hold a two strike miss-rate of just 14% against Mikolas this season, which is the lowest mark of any qualified starter. He has stranded only 63.7% of baserunners this season which likely has been partially due to bad luck on balls in-play, but that concern has been exacerbated by the fact that he holds the lowest strikeout rate of any qualified starter with RISP.
The Cardinals offense has been effective versus left-handed pitching recently. Since the All-Star break St. Louis has hit to a wRC+ of 111 versus LHP, which ranks seventh in MLB. They hold an eight best BB/K in that span, and a 31.4% hard-hit rate. They will remain without a key bat in Willson Contreras in this matchup, who holds an .882 OPS versus lefties as a Catcher this season.
Nestor Cortes enters this matchup in a fairly bad stretch of play, as he has pitched to an ERA of 4.54 in 39 and 2/3 innings since the All-Star break. He holds a WHIP of 1.21 in that span, with an xFIP of 4.62. He has also been hard-hit 40% of the time and seen his strikeout rate dip to 20%.
The Yankees have hit to a wRC+ of 143 against right-handed pitching since the All-Star break, and hold the leagues highest wRC+ against righties this season by a wide margin at 124 (San Diego second at 116). They also hold the top BB/K versus righties, as well as a third best hard-hit rate of 33.9%.
Mikolas enters this matchup in the midst of an ugly stretch of results, and a matchup at Yankee Stadium does not present as the spot to get right. His stuff rates out poorly and he has continued to allow a ton of solid contact as a result. The Yankees have been the best team in the league against righties this season, and Mikolas provides a great opportunity to get right after yesterday's loss.
Cortes has been absolutely dominant at Yankee Stadium, and for a third straight season features far better results at home. He has had a really excellent stretch of results, but many of his underlying numbers still consistent with his season long form. For what has become a meaningful sample, the Cardinals have been a far better than average side versus left-handed pitching.
A total of 9 looks a little too low for a game set to feature batter friendly conditions at Yankee Stadium. Anything better than -115 is worth a bet on this game to go over 9 runs.
Pick: Over 9 (-110)
Cardinals | Yankees | |
---|---|---|
Overall | 67-68 | 79-56 |
Home | 36-32 | 37-29 |
Away | 31-36 | 42-27 |
Favorite | 32-34 | 61-47 |
Underdog | 34-34 | 18-8 |
Cardinals | Yankees | |
---|---|---|
Overall | 63-68-4 | 74-57-4 |
Home | 34-33-1 | 38-27-1 |
Away | 29-35-3 | 36-30-3 |
Favorite | 37-29 | 63-43-2 |
Underdog | 25-39-4 | 11-13-2 |
Cardinals Betting Trends
Yankees Betting Trends
Nick Martin is a writer for The Action Network's NHL and MLB verticals, and is a co-host of Action's Line Change hockey podcast. Before becoming a full-time writer and handicapper, he acquired numerous personal and group training certifications and worked full-time in the fitness and recreation fields.
Follow Nick Martin @nickm_hockey on Twitter/X.
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