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Gerrit Cole is starting to look like the Yankees’ ace once again.
The right-hander has turned in back-to-back excellent starts, tossing six innings of one-run ball in consecutive outings against the Orioles and Rays after some initial struggles coming back from injury.
Cole will take the mound against the Mets on Wednesday in the Subway Series finale, and it appears oddsmakers aren’t convinced he’s back to the Cy Young-caliber pitcher he was a year ago.
Most major sportsbooks have pegged his strikeout total at 6.5 ahead of Wednesday’s contest in the Bronx.
That’s a number Cole has blown past in each of his past three starts as he eased back into shape.
After throwing no more than five innings in his first four starts, Cole has gone deeper into games over the past two, running a pitch count of more than 100 in both outings versus Baltimore and Tampa Bay.
With the Yankees skidding, there’s no better time for a vintage start from their horse Cole, who’ll likely let go of the leash in one of the biggest games of the season.
The Mets have been unusually strikeout-prone of late as well, going down by strikes 23.8 percent of the time over their past 20 games, the 10th-highest rate in baseball.
Cole has generally had success against the Amazin’s biggest bats to boot — despite his poor career numbers against the Mets.
Francisco Lindor and J.D. Martinez are both hitting below .200 in 20 and 51 plate appearances against Cole, respectively.
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Pete Alonso and Francisco Alvarez are hitless in eight combined PAs against him.
Bet on Cole to lead a Bronx Bombers bounce-back.
The bet: Gerrit Cole over 6.5 strikeouts (+105, BetRivers)