⚾ Rangers vs. Yankees Prediction & Picks: MLB Odds for Thursday, May 7

My Rangers vs. Yankees prediction sides with New York given its record in splits against left-handed starting pitchers. I’m also expecting big things from Cody Bellinger as part of my MLB picks despite Gore being tough on left-handed hitters, and backing a trusted Yankees slugger to go deep despite the short home run odds.

⚾ Rangers vs. Yankees picks & odds today

See all of our experts’ MLB picks based on the latest MLB odds; picks rated on a 1-to-5 star confidence scale based on betting value.

Total wagered: 2.25 units | Max profit: 3.24 units

🏆 Who will win Rangers vs. Yankees?

Perhaps the only “negative” against the Yankees at this point is their 8-6 record in day games, but I’m not letting that cloud what New York has accomplished to this point with the best run differential in the American League.

Score prediction: Yankees 6, Rangers 5

💰 Rangers vs. Yankees prediction & best bet

Yankees (-136)

There is a big disparity between New York’s 8-4 record against left-handed starting pitchers and Texas’ 10-11 road record. Meanwhile, the Yankees were a dominant 14-2 over their last 16 games overall entering Wednesday, outscoring opponents 106-40 in that span.

The Rangers are 2-2 in Gore’s last four starts despite him not completing more than five innings in any outing over that span. His ERA also rose from 3.00 to 4.67 in that stretch, and his inability to provide length puts more stress on a bullpen that ranks 22nd in xFIP and 15th in WAR. 

🔥 Best Rangers vs. Yankees player prop bet

Cody Bellinger Over 0.5 RBIs (+190)

Cody Bellinger entered yesterday with a five-game extra-base hit streak, during which nine of his 10 hits in 19 at-bats went for extra bases. He also had 11 RBI in his first five May games, and turned in consecutive three-RBI days, while batting .444 and slugging 1.000 over his previous seven.

Bellinger has provided some of that production while batting behind Aaron Judge with Ben Rice having been out of the lineup (hand contusion).

Through May 5th of last year, Bellinger was slashing .202/.275/.360 with four home runs and a 20.6% strikeout rate. Through May 5th this year, Bellinger slashed .274/.367/.492 with five home runs, a 13.6% strikeout rate, and five more RBIs than last year.

Bellinger is not to be overlooked against southpaws in a lefty-lefty split, as his OPS is 85 points higher than when facing right-handed pitchers.

💣 Rangers vs. Yankees home run prediction

Aaron Judge to hit a home run (+239)

Call it a boring pick, but one cannot ignore the red-hot Judge, who entering this series had homered in five of eight games, while recording a 1.528 OPS and driving in 10 runs in that span. His last home run yesterday was also the 383rd of his career, breaking a tie with Frank Howard, Ryan Howard, and Jim Rice for 71st-most in MLB history.

Judge has an outstanding track record against Gore, with two of his three hits in seven at-bats going for home runs. The lefty’s fly ball rate is also on pace to be 26.4% or higher for the third time in five seasons, while his 1.3 HR/9 rate is a career worst thus far.

🚀 Rangers vs. Yankees same-game parlay

All three legs of this same-game parlay add to the Yankees' chances of winning outright. I'm fine leaving the Judge home run wager as part of the parlay since it is not considering a long-shot play in isolation. But I'm swapping my Bellinger RBI wager for his total bases prop (given his long extra-base hit streak recently), as the lefty slugger would have less opportunities to drive in runs if Judge is clearing the bases ahead of him.

💵 My betting record for MLB picks

All MLB picks, including SGPs, have been tracked since March 26.

💡 How I'm betting Rangers vs. Yankees: MLB strategy

Follow all of our MLB analysis and expert predictions for baseball season.

After the Yankees' moneyline odds plummeted from the change to Paul Blackburn from Ryan Weathers as their starting pitcher, they became affordable enough to back the Bronx Bombers to win outright instead of having to lay the -1.5 runs. 

If Ben Rice is in the lineup today, I may pivot from Bellinger's RBI wager to projecting him Over 1.5 total bases, depending on where he is in the lineup. But if Rice is out, the odds of Bellinger driving in a run is more of a value play with one less top-tier slugger potentially taking away his opportunities. 

📊 Live Rangers vs. Yankees odds

The Yankees plummeted from as high as -194 moneyline favorites after swapping Ryan Weathers for Paul Blackburn as their starting pitcher. That also made Texas a popular underdog, attracting 43% of the early wagers.

All of the best sports betting sites are in unison with an O/U of 8.5. With the Over being juiced as high as -115 (53.49% implied odds) and a 2/1 betting split in slight favor of the Over, we could see this line tick up to 9 before first pitch.

📈 Rangers vs. Yankees betting trends

🚑 Rangers vs. Yankees injuries

📺 How to watch Rangers vs. Yankees

• Date: Thursday, May 7
• First pitch: 12:35 p.m. ET
• Ballpark: Yankee Stadium (Bronx, N.Y.)
• TV: ESPN Unlimited
• Streaming: MLB.TV
• Rangers starter: MacKenzie Gore (2-2, 4.67 ERA)
• Yankees starter: Paul Blackburn (1-1, 3.21 ERA)