Game 1 New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction:
After a lengthy layoff for the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, the World Series gets going on Friday. Both teams send their leaders in postseason innings pitched in Game One.
Gerrit Cole gets the start for the Yankees. He enters the matchup with three earned runs or fewer allowed in 12 of his past 13 starts with a 2.48 ERA and 0.4 home runs per nine innings allowed in this stretch.
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The task for Cole will be more difficult than any he’s faced in this stretch. The Los Angeles Dodgers average 5.2 runs per game in the regular season, the most of any team to make the playoffs, and are averaging nearly 6.4 runs per game in the postseason.
After a disastrous Game 5 start in the National League Championship Series in which he surrendered eight runs in three innings, Jack Flaherty gets the start for Los Angeles. He looks to get back to how he performed in the regular season.
Flaherty entered the postseason with a 3.17 ERA with 10.8 strikeouts and 2.1 walks per nine innings during the regular season between his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers. He has a 7.04 ERA with 4.7 strikeouts per nine innings in his three postseason starts.
The Yankees offense led the American League in scoring during the regular season with five runs per game and in the playoffs. They have been close to that same form with 4.8 runs per game. But among the position players that have appeared in all nine of the team’s playoff games, four are batting .194 or worse.
Both bullpens played a big role in these teams getting to the World Series. Both will likely see plenty of action on Friday, with the Yankees bullpen owning a 3.62 ERA in the regular season and a 2.56 ERA in the playoffs. The Dodgers had a 3.53 ERA in their bullpen during the regular season and a 3.16 postseason ERA.
With both teams getting a full five-plus days to rest coming into this game, it should help a pair of teams that used an all-hands-on-deck approach to advance to this point. The rested bullpens should keep these two explosive offenses in check in Game 1 of the World Series.
MLB Pick: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Under 8.5 Runs
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