Athletics vs Yankees Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for May 8 (New York Gets Back in Win Column at Home)

The New York Yankees (18-17) will aim to bounce back from a tough road series when they host the Oakland Athletics (8-27) in the first matchup of their three-game series on Monday, May 8.

Athletics vs Yankees Game Info

• Date: Monday, May 8, 2023
• Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
• Venue: Yankee Stadium -- Bronx, NY
• Coverage: NBCSCA and YES

The Yankees have failed to live up to high expectations so far and are coming off a series in which they lost two of three games to the Tampa Bay Rays. Playing Oakland is about the best matchup they could've asked for considering the Athletics have lost 10 of their first 11 series in the 2023 season.

Athletics vs Yankees Odds & Spread

• All MLB betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: OAK: (+164) | NYY: (-196)
• Spread: OAK: +1.5 (-126) | NYY: -1.5 (+105)
• Total: 8.5 -- Over: (-104) | Under: (-118)

The Yankees enter this contest as clear home favorites on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 7:05 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 8.5 runs with the under slightly favored at -118 odds.

Athletics vs Yankees Betting Trends

• Oakland is 2-7 straight up in its last nine games against an AL opponent.
• The total has hit the under in four of Oakland's last six games.
• The Yankees are 5-2 straight up in their last seven games against Oakland.
• The total has hit the under in each of the Yankees' last six home games.

Athletics vs Yankees Prediction & Pick

As mentioned above, it has not been a great start to the year for the Athletics. They have lost 15 of their last 20 games overall and check in outside the top 20 teams when it comes to runs per game (3.91), on-base percentage (.309), team ERA (7.25) and team WHIP (1.73). Nothing has been working.

That bodes well for the Yankee's chances of getting back in the win column on Monday night given they will have Nestor Cortes on the mound. Cortes has allowed 3 earned runs or less in five of his six starts this year and owns an impressive 2.96 career ERA across 182.2 innings inside Yankee Stadium.

Oakland starter JP Sears is coming off his best outing on the year (6.0 scoreless innings vs Seattle), but the 27-year-old has never faced the likes of Anthony Rizzo or a red-hot Harrison Bader before. Sears himself was traded from the Yankees to the A's. That lack of in-game experience will cost him as the Yankees give the home crowd something to cheer about here.

Final Score Prediction: Athletics: 3 | Yankees: 5

Athletics vs Yankees Best Bet

Cortes has long been a starter who can rely on his ability to get batters to whiff in order to get out of sticky situations. He has tallied at least 7 strikeouts in three of his last four starts and now gets to face an Oakland lineup that racks up the sixth-most strikeouts per game (9.29). The lack of a short leash helps, too, given Cortes has seen his pitch count grow with each passing start (100 on April 30).

Bet: Nestor Cortes Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-128)

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.