This is an 8* play on HOUSTON

Gerrit Cole. That's what this one comes down to for us. Houston had to turn to its ace twice in the Tampa Bay series and both times Cole delivered with stellar outings. Now its the Yankees turn to face him. This is a crucial game where you want your best starter on the mound. So Houston "lucked out" a bit in that they had to wait until Game 3 to start Cole. The Yankees go with Severino, who hadn't started a game before September due to injury. It'll have to be a joint effort here with the bullpen for the Yankees as Severino hasn't pitched more than five innings in any of his four starts this year. Cole, on the other hand, is a machine. He can certainly be counted on for at least seven innings tonight. He went 7 2/3 and 8 in the two starts last series, allowing only one run and six hits total. He had 25 strikeouts and just three walks. Really, the entire 2019 season has been a ridiculous run for Cole as his last loss occurred on May 22nd! Since then, he's 18-0 in 25 starts with the Astros going 23-2 overall including 15-0 the L15! Talk about line value ... Cole hasn't been south of -200 on the money line since he was -175 at Milwaukee on September 2nd. Since winning that one, he's been -270 or higher for seven consecutive starts, a stretch which has seen him go 7-0 with a 0.87 ERA. While we have to be careful to "respect" the Yankees in this position, the bottom line is we like Cole too much to pass up taking him at this price. Play on HOUSTON

AAA