Athletics vs. Yankees prediction and odds for Monday, May 8 (Not-So Nasty Nestor)

Over the weekend, the New York Yankees were able to salvage one game from the Rays down in Tampa, but at 18-17 are still last in the AL East. They’ll get to face off with another last place team for a three-game series, the 8-27 Oakland A’s. Oakland just won their most recent series, taking two of three from Kansas City. 

Nestor Cortes will go for the worst team in the AL East and JP Sears will pitch for the worst team in baseball in Game 1. Cortes is 3-2 with a 4.91 ERA, while Sears is 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA. The Yankees are big home favorites and need to take advantage of this series to climb out of the basement in their division. 

Let’s get into the odds for Game 1 of three between the A’s and Yankees in the Bronx. 

Athletics vs. Yankees odds, run line and total

Athletics vs. Yankees prediction and pick

There’s a good chance that a lot of people can’t name a single player in the Oakland A’s lineup, and yet they have a better team OPS than Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, and the rest of the Yankees. New York is 24th in OPS while Oakland is 22nd. In terms of production this season, Brent Rooker will be the scariest hitter in either lineup, coming in with a 1.126 OPS and 10 home runs. The right-handed left fielder crushes right-handers, but he hits lefties even better, so Nestor Cortes will need to pitch around him in the Oakland order. 

The difference between these teams really shows up when you look at pitching. The A’s have issued 180 walks, 32 more than any other team in baseball, and their 7.25 team ERA is far and away the worst. Nasty Nestor hasn’t quite lived up to that name this year and allowed seven runs last time out against the Rangers (which Aaron Boone blamed on strep throat).

The over is 7-1 in Oakland’s last seven games against a left-handed starting pitcher, and 8-1 in their last nine road games against a team with a winning record, so that’ll be my play even with the Yankees lineup really struggling this season. New York scored seven in an 8-7 loss yesterday without Aaron Judge in the lineup, so despite it being an ugly loss with a big blown lead, that's promising.

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change