3 Best Prop Bets for Yankees vs. Red Sox Wild Card Game

Who’s ready for some playoff baseball? 

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will kick things off tonight at 8:08 p.m. EST in a renewal of baseball’s greatest rivalry. 

Gerrit Cole (16-8, 3.23 ERA) will take the mound for the Yankees against Boston’s Nathan Eovaldi (11-9, 3.75 ERA). 

WynnBET Sportsbook has the Yankees as a slight road favorite in this one at -125 odds. The Yankees swept Boston in late September to help propel them to the postseason. 

We’ve got a betting preview, bold predictions and more for this matchup, but what about some prop bets?

Here are my three favorite ones for tonight’s American League wild card showdown: 

Gerrit Cole UNDER 6.5 Strikeouts (+105)

The Yankees have their ace on the mound in Cole, but he’s been far from an ace since injuring his hamstring earlier in September.

Cole has made four starts since the injury and has allowed 16 runs in 22.2 innings. He gave up the most extra-base hits in MLB in September and simply has not been himself over his last few outings. 

To make matters worse, he’s been beat up by Boston this season. 

Cole did issue his best outing of the season against the Red Sox on Sept. 24, punching out six batters and allowing just three runs in six innings of work. Can he duplicate that success tonight? I’m not so sure. 

I’m taking the under on his strikeout prop (set at 6.5 on WynnBET) at +105 odds, cause I think if he implodes like he has in two of his last three starts, Aaron Boone will have a quick hook to try and keep the season alive. Usually, Cole would have a long leash, but the Yankees can’t afford to lose this game and may go to the pen earlier than most of Cole’s starts. 

Yankees OVER 3.0 Runs in First Seven Innings (-120)

The Yankees destroyed Boston’s bullpen in their three-game sweep at Fenway Park, and I don’t have much confidence in the Red Sox to keep the Yankees’ offense in check once Eovaldi comes out of the game. 

New York has faced Eovaldi six times already this season, hitting .279 with a .744 OPS, which has me inclined to think that they could tag him for at least three runs before his night is over. 

The Red Sox have a 3.99 bullpen ERA and saw Adam Ottavino and Darwinzon Hernandez serve up moonshots to Giancarlo Stanton in their last two meetings. If New York is going to win, it’ll likely need more than three runs, and the Yankees have posted 15 runs in their last two wild card game appearances. 

Nathan Eovaldi OVER 4.5 Hits Allowed (-105)

This isn’t even a knock on Eovaldi, as he’s fared pretty well against New York this season, but the Yankees have hit him well despite not scoring a ton of runs. 

Here’s a look at the amount of hits he’s allowed in his starts versus the Yanks in 2021: 

• June 4: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R (one earned)
• June 26: 7.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER
• July 17: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER
• July 24: 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER
• Aug. 17: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER
• Sept. 24: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER

He’s allowed 38 hits in 34 innings pitched against the Yankees this season, so even if he does have a quality start, I expect New York to pick up five or more hits in this one.

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