New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians: UNDER/6.5

This Yankees/Indians series is going to be a pitching duel. This game 1 matchup features the Triple Crown winner in Shane Bieber against big ticket free agent acquisition Gerrit Cole. I expect Shane Bieber to continue his 2020 dominance, as he will stifle the Yankees bats throughout the game. On the other hand, Cleveland’s offense is the 7th worst team in terms of scoring runs, so that means Cole will have an easy time in shutting down the Indians’ offense. Both teams have capable bullpens as well, so this will be a low scoring game.

Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Ray (-1.5)

The Blue Jays vs Rays is the only Wild Card series that will feature teams that have played each other this year. To restrict travel, teams only played division opponents within their respective leagues meaning teams in the AL East did not play teams in the AL Central or West. Every other Wild Card series features cross-divisional opponents. I give the Rays the edge in this game as they will pitch 2018 Cy Young winner Blake Snell. The Blue Jays will have trouble scoring in this game allowing the Rays to win by 2+ runs.