I was leaning Yankees but since three others already are on them, I'm not jumping into the Curse Pool. This runline has come down to a somewhat reasonable -178 from -190, so we'll roll with it. Nestor Cortes was shockingly great this season but has never pitched in a playoff game and that matters a little. He also hasn't pitched in a game in nearly two weeks, and we've seen some rustiness issues with other pitchers so far in this postseason. Cleveland's Shane Bieber has plenty of playoff experience and has been great since about mid-August. The Guardians' hitting definitely worries me a little, but I'll take a 1-0 loss.

Yankees starter Nestor Cortes has a 1.35 ERA in his last six starts and if you're worried about the layover, he went 10 days between starts around the All-Star break and threw six scoreless innings against the Orioles next time out. Plus, the Guardians' offense is terrible and has only mounted four runs in 32 innings in the playoffs so far. Shane Bieber is very good, but most of his numbers were built against inferior competition this year. Eighteen of his 31 starts were against sub-.500 teams and five more came against the middling and .500 White Sox. He had a 3.91 ERA against winning teams. The only other time the Yankees saw Bieber in the playoffs, they torched him while Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres homered. Yankees should roll, so we're going on the run line (-1.5, +158).

Making his post-season debut, New York’s Nestor Cortes has went 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA in his final five starts of the season. He’s backed by the 2nd best bullpen over the last seven days with a 1.33 ERA. Cortes faces Cleveland’s Shane Bieber who’s 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in the postseason. The Guardians bullpen owns a 2.96 ERA over the last seven days as well. Cleveland is out-batting New York, .243 to .236 over their last 10 games. However, New York has a better wRC+, 115 to 99. I’m on the Yankees.

This game was postponed but my opinion hasn't changed. Shane Bieber was great in his first start this postseason, and they will need something similar if they want to have a chance today. Nestor Cortes Jr. pitched well in his two starts against the Guardians this season and he allowed just 1 hit in each of his last two starts. The Guardians struggle against lefties and the Yankees lineup is much healthier. The Guardians just haven’t been able to score, they’ve scored 2, 1, and 1 runs in their three playoff games while the Yankees hit plenty of home runs and can put the game out of reach in one swing.