Yankees vs Blue Jays Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for May 18 (Yankees Rebound for Series Win)

The New York Yankees (25-20) will aim to get the series win and keep pace in the toughest division in baseball when they visit the Toronto Blue Jays (25-18) in the final matchup of their four-game series on Thursday, May 18.

Yankees vs Blue Jays Game Info

• Date: Saturday, May 18, 2023
• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Venue: Rogers Centre – Toronto, CA
• Coverage: YES

The Yankees are coming off a 3-0 loss yesterday after winning the first two games of this series earlier in the week. New York is hoping to come away with a series win with Nestor Cortes on the mound tonight while Toronto aims for a series split behind Jose Berrios.

Yankees vs Blue Jays Odds & Spread

• All MLB betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: NYY: (+120) | TOR: (-142)
• Spread: NYY: +1.5 (-166) | TOR: -1.5 (+138)
• Total: 9 -- Over: (-104) | Under: (-118)

The Yankees enter this contest as road underdogs on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 7:07 p.m. ET contest also features an over/under of 9 runs with the Under being the favorite at -118.

Yankees vs Blue Jays Betting Trends

• The Yankees are 7-3 straight up in their last 10 games.
• The total has hit the over in 10 of the Yankees' last 11 games.
• Toronto is 4-2 straight up in its last six games.
• The total has hit the over in 10 of Toronto's last 16 games.

Yankees vs Blue Jays Prediction & Pick

While Nestor Cortes has seen some struggles of late during the third time through the lineup, Jose Berrios has seen worse struggles against New York since he's been in Toronto.

The Blue Jays starter has an unimpressive 4.70 ERA and 1.28 WHIP this season. While he hasn;t pitched against the Yankees yet in 2023, he did have four starts against New York in 2022, and his numbers were not pretty. Berrios pitched to a 1-2 record with a 5.64 ERA and surrendered a .280 opponent batting average in 22 1/3 innings.

The Yankees' bats have really woken up lately, scoring 13 runs in the first two games of this series combined before being shut out on Wednesday. With Berrios on the mound, expect New York's lineup to bounce back and build up an early lead.

Cortes hasn't pitched against Toronto yet either this season, but in three starts against them last year he had a dominant 1.88 ERA.

Final Score Prediction: Yankees: 7 | Blue Jays: 3

Yankees vs Blue Jays Best Bet

While I expect the Yankees' bats to come back to life against Berrios in the series finale, the Blue Jays should score some runs as well. Cortes' struggles during his third trip through the order are more than just a blip on the radar now, and New York's bullpen behind him is a little shorthanded.

There's reason to believe Cortes can turn things around against this lineup, however, as he pitched fantastically against the same core in 2022. The Yankees will make Berrios pay for his mistakes, however, as Aaron Judge already has three home runs in this series.

We're going with a bet that combines all of this, as we expect New York to win a high-scoring game. Both sides have plenty of offensive firepower and neither starter has been great this year, so back the Yanks to win a slugfest tonight.

Bet: Moneyline/Total Runs Parlay: Yankees/Over 8.5 (+270)

David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. 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.