Twins vs Yankees MLB Odds, Picks, Predictions: Fade Gerrit Cole, New York Wednesday (September 7)

Twins vs. Yankees Odds

The Twins and Yankees are set for a doubleheader Wednesday in the Bronx. New York's American League East division lead is down to 4.5 games entering play while Minnesota trails Cleveland by 1.5 games in the American League Central division.

It's quite an important series for both teams at this point in the season, though the Yankees could still make the playoffs as a wild card team if they lose the lead in the division whereas the Twins' only realistic chance at making the playoffs goes through the division.

Who will ultimately get the job done and take home the victory in game two of the doubleheader?

Can the Twins Rattle Gerrit Cole?

The Twins will be going up against Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole here. He has a 3.28 ERA and 3.46 xFIP on the season and has completed at least six innings while allowing no more than two earned runs in four of his last five starts. Cole has pitched slightly better at home this year with a 3.15 ERA.

He's allowed a .160 ISO to left-handed hitters this year. Nick Gordon and Jake Cave, a former Yankees prospect, are the two left-handed hitters Cole will have to worry about here. Gordon has a .179 ISO in 269 plate appearances against right-handed pitching this season while Cave has a .259 ISO in 60 plate appearances against right-handed pitching this season.

The Twins are 10th in all of baseball averaging 4.59 runs per game on the road entering play Wednesday.

Yankees' Lineup Lacks Punch

The Yankees are big favorites in this game because they have Cole on the mound and even though his counterpart Joe Ryan has a 3.88 ERA this year his xFIP is 5.14. He's allowed a fly ball percentage of 51%, which is a recipe for disaster against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.

The only problem with all of that is the lineup the Yankees are running out there these days. It's Aaron Judge and that's about it. Anthony Rizzo, Andrew Benintendi, and Matt Carpenter are on the injured list. D.J. LeMahieu's play is diminished by the foot injury he's playing through. Giancarlo Stanton hasn't been hitting and seemed to tweak something in his lower body at the plate recently.

If the Yankees were at full strength I'd have more interest in them, but I think Ryan can outperform his xFIP for another start here.

Twins-Yankees Pick

I'm going with the Twins here.

They have enough left-handed hitting to do some damage against Cole, though he's been better at home. Ryan just needs to make sure he doesn't have to face Judge with men on base and the same goes for the Twins bullpen.

The Yankees went 10-18 in August and have started out September 2-2, but they've been outscored 14-8. I took the Twins moneyline at +165.

Pick: Twins ML +165