Reds vs. Yankees: Picks, predictions, how to watch Thursday’s game

The Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees square off on Thursday with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Luis Castillo (3-4, 2.92 ERA) will be on the bump for the Reds and Nestor Cortes (7-3, 2.74 ERA) will make the start for the Yankees.

Cincinnati (33-55) had its season-high five-game win streak come to an end in heartbreaking fashion Wednesday night. The Reds lost a wild 10-inning affair last night against the Yankees when reliever Alexis Diaz threw consecutive wild pitches, the second of which plated D.J. LeMahieu to give New York a 7-6 win. The Reds are averaging 5.3 runs over their past six games. Brandon Drury leads Cincinnati with 18 home runs and 50 RBI.

New York (62-26) needed help from a wild Cincinnati bullpen to avoid its first four-game losing skid of the season. The Yankees are 6-5 in the month of July despite averaging 6.9 runs per game this month. New York still leads the MLB in runs scored (460) and home runs (147). Aaron Judge is providing the biggest bat for the Yankees this season with 30 home runs and 65 RBI.

Reds vs. Yankees

Pitchers: Luis Castillo vs. Nestor Cortes
First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
Reds local broadcast: Bally Sports Ohio
Yankees local broadcast: YES
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions (from DraftKings Sportsbook)

Run Line: Yankees -1.5 (+110)
Run total: 8
Moneyline odds: Yankees -195; Reds +165

Moneyline pick: Yankees -195

The Yankees have played some sloppy baseball as of late, but expect things to settle down with Cortes on the hill. Cortes didn’t last four innings in his previous start against the Boston Red Sox, but he’s a different man at Yankee Stadium sporting a 3-0 record with a 2.01 ERA at home. Castillo has been the Reds’ best pitcher. He has given up three runs or less and went at least six innings in six of his past seven outings. It’s the Yankees lineup against that shaky Reds bullpen — an MLB-worst 5.35 ERA — that will be the difference.

Player prop pick: Anthony Rizzo Over 0.5 RBI (+175)

Rizzo has had his moments at the plate recently, he’s batting .250 (4-for-16) with three doubles and five RBIs over the past four games. He’s driven in runs in three of those four games and I expect Aaron Judge to bounce back from going 0-for-4 (three strikeouts) on Wednesday to give Rizzo some RBI opportunities out of the three-hole.

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