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The New York Yankees have dug themselves a 2-0 hole in the 2022 American League Championship Series but they'll look to Gerrit Cole to get their postseason run back on track on Saturday in Game 3 against the Houston Astros. Cole won twice for the Yankees during their ALDS win over the Guardians and has a career ERA of 2.57 against his former team in his career. Meanwhile, the Astros will turn to left-hander Cristian Javier, who posted a 2.54 ERA with 194 strikeouts in 148 2/3 innings during the regular season. However, this will be Javier's first appearance of the 2022 MLB playoffs.

First pitch is scheduled for 5:07 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium. New York is the -155 favorite (risk $155 to win $100) on the money line in the latest Yankees vs. Astros odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Houston is the +130 underdog and the over/under for total runs is set at 6.5. Before making any Astros vs. Yankees picks, you need to see the MLB predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's advanced computer model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times, and it entered the league championship round on a 20-13 roll on top-rated MLB money-line picks, returning more than $400. This is the same model that pegged the 2021 Atlanta Braves at 10-1 as one of three best bets to win it all last season. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Astros vs. Yankees, and just locked in its picks and MLB predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Here are several MLB odds and betting lines and trends for Yankees vs. Astros:

  • Yankees vs. Astros money line: New York -155, Astros +130
  • Yankees vs. Astros over/under: 6.5 runs 
  • Yankees vs. Astros run line: New York -1.5 (+150)
  • HOU: The Under has hit in five of Houston's last six games
  • NYY: The Under has hit in four of the Yankees' last five games against the Astros 
  • Yankees vs. Astros picks: See picks here

Why you should back the Yankees

The Yankees will turn the ball back over to Cole, who delivered two victories for the Yankees during their ALDS win over the Guardians. Cole threw 13 1/3 innings in those two starts and only allowed three earned runs while striking out 16. Cole threw seven innings of one-run ball in a loss to the Astros on June 25 and threw seven shutout innings in his last ALCS start while with the Astros against the Yankees in 2019.

New York will also be hoping that the law of averages are on its offense's side with the team hitting just .138 through the first two games of the series. After a historic 62-homer season, Aaron Judge is just 5-for-28 this postseason but he posted a 1.111 OPS on the year and he's capable of changing the complexion of the series with a single swing.

Why you should back the Astros

Houston had a difficult decision on its hands between Lance McCullers and Javier but ultimately penciled McCullers in for Game 4 while choosing the lefty despite the fact that he's only pitched 1 1/3 inning since Oct. 1. That's probably because Javier shut the Yankees down in two regular-season starts against them.

He threw seven no-hit innings against them while striking out 13 in a 3-0 win on June 25 and then followed that up by throwing five innings where he allowed only one earned run and two hits in a no-decision on July 21. The Astros would go on to win that game 3-2 and current Yankee hitters are batting a combined .083 off Javier with a .331 OPS against him.

How to make Astros vs. Yankees picks

SportsLine's model is leaning Over on the run total, projecting 7.7 total runs. It also says one side of the money line has all the value. You can only get the model's MLB picks at SportsLine.

So who wins Astros vs. Yankees? And which side has all the value? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of Yankees vs. Astros you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its MLB picks, and find out.