How Sharps are Betting Wednesday’s Yankees/Dodgers Game 5

Plus a Look at Wednesday’s 2 College Football Matchups

Yanks stayed alive Tuesday night to force Game 5. Let’s take a quick look at what happened in that G4 victory.

*The New York Yankees (-135) beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4, winning Total Bases plus Walks 27-17.  Dodgers jumped to an early 2-0 lead off Gil, and would eventually score four runs in 4 innings off the vulnerable Yankees starter. But, LAD’s bullpen by committee wasn’t ready for 9 innings against the “backs to the wall” version of the Yankees. New York led 5-2 after three innings, 6-4 after six innings, then piled up five superfluous runs in the bottom of the eighth to pad the lead. More drama than it seems if you didn’t watch the game and only saw the final score. But, not a surprise that the Yanks bats would finally ignite after a cold start to the series. Dodgers lead the series 3-1. Yankees must still run the table to lift the trophy.

G4 Starting Pitchers

Jack Flaherty: 3.77 xFIP, 26.1 K-percentage

Gerritt Cole: 3.99 xFIP, 25.4 K-percentage

Flaherty had the better regular season. But, he’s been vulnerable in the playoffs. Cole clearly has the superior postseason stats.

Postseason

Jack Flaherty: 20.1 IP, 14 ER, 6.10 ERA, 14K, 8 BB, 4 HR

Gerritt Cole: 22.1 IP, 7 ER, 2.82 ERA, 16K, 8 BB, 1 HR

Big difference, with the HRs allowed being the major reason Flaherty’s ERA is so much higher in this short sample size. Both got the job done in the series opener. That was the game that was 2-2 into the tenth. Cole lasted two-thirds of a inning longer while allowing one fewer run. Either guy could be vulnerable in a second look. Seems like you’d have to give the starting edge to Cole regardless of what happened in the regular season…based on Flaherty being vulnerable to home runs vs. good offenses in high pressure situations. Edge may not be as big as postseason ERA suggests. Still, no way to give a nod to Flaherty right now.