The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, so they were unable to earn the four-game sweep over their AL East foe. Now York has, however, won nine of its last 11, and now hosts a Chicago White Sox team that is just 5-6 in their last 11 contests.
Will the Bronx Bombers stay hot and pick up a win in the series opener against a mediocre Chicago team? Find out in our free MLB betting picks and predictions for White Sox vs. Yankees on Friday, May 20.
White Sox vs Yankees odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Yankees are massive moneyline favorites, with the best price you’ll find on New York being -195 after opening at -185. With that, it’s probably best to look at the run line if you like the Yanks. You can get them to cover 1.5 at +100 here.
As for the total, the number opened at 8.5 and it looks like it’s going to stay put there. The Over is being juiced a little.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until first pitch and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
White Sox vs Yankees predictions
Picks made on 5/20/2022 at 2:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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White Sox vs Yankees game info
• Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
• Date: Friday, May 20, 2022
• First pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET
• TV: Amazon Prime Video
White Sox vs Yankees betting preview
Starting pitchers
Dallas Keuchel LHP (2-3, 5.54 ERA): Keuchel completely shut the Yankees down on Saturday, as the lefty threw five shutout innings and gave up just four hits against one of the best lineups in baseball. After a really rough start to the year, Keuchel has now given up only six earned runs over his last 19 innings on the hill. He’s starting to dial it in and his off-speed stuff has given New York trouble in the past.
Nestor Cortes Jr. LHP (2-1, 1.35 ERA): It’ll be hard to call Cortes the ace of the Yankees as long as Gerrit Cole is around, but the lefty has been nothing short of spectacular this season. Cortes has allowed just six earned runs over 40 innings in 2022, and he’s starting to work deeper and deeper into games after really being more of a five or six-inning pitcher last year. Cortes faced this White Sox team on Sunday and struck out seven in eight innings of one-run ball.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
White Sox: Eloy Jimenez P (Out), Lance Lynn P (Out), Ryan Burr P (Out), Yermin Mercedes DH (Out), Garrett Crochet P (Out).
Yankees: Chad Green P (Questionable), Domingo German P (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Over is 7-3 in the Yankees last 10 games. Find more MLB betting trends for White Sox vs. Yankees
White Sox vs Yankees picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Run line analysis
The Yankees have the fourth-highest slugging percentage in baseball against lefties this season and they’re also Top 5 in isolated power, and Top 7 in weighted runs created when facing southpaws. If New York actually has a true weakness this season, it’s that the team can use some more left-handed bats in the lineup.
But from the right side of the plate, the Yankees are as good as gold. And that’s especially true when facing lefties, which is why it’s hard not to like their chances of putting up a lot of runs in this game.
Keuchel pitched really well against New York just a week ago, but the Yanks did score three earned runs on six hits in only four innings in the lefty's only trip to Yankee Stadium last season. Considering how often hitters make contact against the veteran, it’s only fair to assume that New York will come up with a few big hits.
As most people know, the Yankees have one of the easiest ballparks in baseball to hit home runs in, and they should be able to go yard against Keuchel here. Keep an eye on both Josh Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton, as the two of them have each homered twice off the 34-year-old in their careers.
If New York does ultimately score a good amount against Keuchel, it’s going to be hard for the Yanks not to cover the 1.5-run line. Cortes just went out and dominated this White Sox lineup last week, and that’s nothing new that the lefty hasn’t been doing lately.
It’s a bit wild to think about a guy that was an unheralded prospect keeping up this level of work the rest of the way, but Cortes would be right in the middle of the AL Cy Young Award talks if he does. Over the last two games, he has allowed just one run in 15.1 innings and has struck out 18 batters. He has at least seven strikeouts in four of his seven outings this year.
Prediction: Yankees -1.5 (+100 at FanDuel)
Over/Under analysis
Not only is the Over 7-3 in the Yankees' last 10 games, but it’s also 6-2 in the last eight games that the team has played against left-handed starters. That’s not all that surprising when considering how good New York’s lineup is against southpaws. There’s a good chance the Bronx Bombers score at least five runs tonight, with their team total being 4.5. In fact, you should expect them to score at least six like they did in yesterday’s game.
If New York can get to five or six, Chicago will just need to score a few runs in order to help Over bettors cash. The White Sox team total is 3.5, and they should be able to get a couple across against Cortes and a Yankees bullpen that is far from perfect.
Overall, it’s just really difficult not to back an Over in a game with this Yanks team right now. The bats are just too hot and Keuchel isn’t good enough to scare them away.
Prediction: Over 8.5 (-110 at BetMGM)
Best bet
The Yankees might not have been able to get to Keuchel in their last meeting with him, but there’s no denying how good this lineup can be against lefties. As previously mentioned, New York has some extremely favorable advanced statistics against southpaws on the year. It also scored six runs in Thursday’s loss to the Orioles, so this is a team that is putting up big numbers on the scoreboard even in defeat.
Now, the Yanks need to go out and score five runs against Chicago, and it’s hard to see them not doing it. There’s a reason you have to pay a hefty price to take the Over on their team total, despite the fact that they were shut out by Keuchel last time. It’s because the oddsmakers know that they need to protect themselves from one of baseball’s most explosive lineups.
It also doesn’t hurt that Chicago has the seventh-highest bullpen ERA in MLB right now.
Pick: Yankees team total Over 4.5 (-134 at Unibet)
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