Yankees vs Guardians: Can Cole Continue Early Season Hot Streak?

• Gerrit Cole enters with 2-0 record for Yankees
• Yankees tied for third in home runs with 19 this season
• Cleveland won series opener on Monday

Yankees vs Guardians Odds

Odds taken from BetMGM

Yankees vs Guardians Pick

• Yankees -1.5 (-105)

New York Yankees Predictions

The New York Yankees come into this game off of a loss on Monday night to the Cleveland Guardians, but they did not have Gerrit Cole on the mound for that game. Cole takes the hill on Tuesday with sky-high expectations, after winning decisions in each of his first two starts of the year. But it is not just the fact that Cole has won in his first two starts, but rather how he has pitched that has been so impressive.

Cole has given up just one run in 12.1 innings of work so far this season, striking out 19 batters along the way. He will need to pitch at a high level to beat a Guardians team that has a strong pitching staff of its own. But there is no reason to believe that Cole will fail to do so here, as the Yankees should be able to rely on their ace to get them a win on Tuesday.

Offensively, the Yankees were disappointing on Monday, scoring just two runs and failing to get on the board after the first inning. Expect them to get back on track offensively, thanks in large part to an improved performance from Aaron Judge. Judge went 0-3 at the plate on Monday night, and the Guardians will have more trouble holding him in check in the second game of this series.

Of course, the season Judge has had so far this year entitles him to a bad night once in a while. He is hitting .333 with four home runs and seven runs batted in. He and Giancarlo Stanton have combined for 15 RBI in 10 games, and their continued production in the top half of the Yankee lineup will be key here.

Cleveland Guardians Predictions

The Cleveland Guardians come into this game at 7-4 on the season, and on a two-game winning streak. They have a win over the Yankees under their belt from Monday, getting a slight measure of revenge on New York for knocking them out of last year’s postseason. Here, the Guardians will look to Hunter Gaddis to give them a pitching performance that could earn them a second straight win over the Bronx Bombers.

Gaddis got off to a rough start to this season, giving up four runs in his debut against the Seattle Mariners. But he responded nicely against the Oakland Athletics in his second start of the year, throwing six innings of shutout ball. All of the attention on the mound will understandably be on Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, but if the Guardians get the version of Gaddis that they got last time he pitched, the Guardians could steal this game.

Despite the reputations of these two teams, the Guardians have outscored the Yankees on the season so far. They have averaged 4.8 runs per game, compared to the Yankees’ 4.6 per contest. This can be interpreted in one of two ways. Either the Yankees are primed to break out offensively in this game, or the Guardians may have an easier task than anticipated when it comes to shutting the Yankees down.

The Guardians are still getting used to life at home, after spending much of the early portion of the season on the road. Cleveland is 2-2 at home this year, winning their last two home games after dropping their first two contests on their home field. A third straight home win in this game is considered a tough task by oddsmakers, but the game of baseball can certainly be unpredictable enough for it to take place.

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How to Watch Yankees vs Guardians

• What: New York Yankees vs Cleveland Guardians
• When: Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:10 PM ET
• Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
• How to Watch: MLB.tv