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Yankees vs. Orioles Prediction and Odds for Sunday, April 17 (Yankees To Roll Behind Cortes Jr.)

By Joe Summers

Nestor Cortes Jr. looked dominant in his first start and hopes for another strong performance against the Orioles today
Nestor Cortes Jr. looked dominant in his first start and hopes for another strong performance against the Orioles today / Jim Rogash/GettyImages
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After splitting the first two games of the series, the 2-6 Baltimore Orioles host the 5-4 New York Yankees in rubber match today at 1:05 PM EST.

Nestor Cortes Jr. gets the nod for the Yankees. Cortes, he of the magnificent mustache and incredible strikeout rate, dominated the Blue Jays in 4.1 scoreless innings in his first start of the season.

Baltimore will counter with Bruce Zimmermann, who threw four scoreless innings against Milwaukee in his season debut but was one of the worst pitchers in the league last year.

Can Zimmerman build off his strong 2022 debut to give the Orioles a series win or will Cortes power New York to victory?

Let's check out the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook to help us find out ahead of this Yankees vs Orioles matchup:

Yankees vs Orioles Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line

  • Yankees -1.5 (-115)
  • Orioles +1.5 (+100)

Moneyline:

  • Yankees: -180
  • Orioles: +165

Total:

  • 8.5 (Over +100/Under -120)

Yankees vs Orioles Prediction and Pick

Nestor Cortes Jr. just may be my favorite young pitcher in the league. He doesn't throw particularly hard, but he's deceptive and mixes up his pitches well, resulting in mass confusion for batters. After throwing 103 strikeouts in 93 innings last season, Cortes picked up right where he left off by striking out five Blue Jays in 4.1 innings to open the year.

I'm looking for consistency and a potential for dominance when I back a pitcher. In 14 starts in 2021, Cortes allowed more than three runs only once and just dominated the best lineup in baseball. The kid's got the goods.

Zimmermann, meanwhile, was excellent against the Brewers last week. But Milwaukee is one of the worst lineups in baseball against left-handed pitching and I'm going to need the 27-year-old lefty to prove it a bit more before I can trust him. I mean, just look at this disaster of a 2021 season:

In his lone start against the Yankees last year, Zimmerman got shelled for nine hits and four runs over 3.1 innings. I expect a similar performance from New York today while Cortes shuts down the Baltimore lineup.

Give me the Yankees on the run line as we celebrate a glorious holiday today: Nestor Cortes Jr. Day.

Pick: Yankees -1.5 (-115)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.

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