MLB Baseball
2026-06-03 - Cleveland Guardians at New York Yankees
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Wednesday 3rd June 2026 - Scheduled 7:05pm EST
00:05am (British Time)
Preview
The attendance for this second of a three game set at Yankee Stadium may be pretty decent at the start, but New Yorkers are likely to be streaming out at the 7th Inning stretch with one eye on the home town Basketball team playing Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
That is the big story in New York City right now, although Gerrit Cole is trying his best to keep some of the headlines on the New York Yankees (36-24). A defeat in the opener of this three game series means the Yankees remain a game out of the Divisional lead in the American League East, but no one is going to be concerned about that in June and this is a time when most eyes are going to be on how star players are performing.
One of those could be missing again on Wednesday after Aaron Judge was allowed a day of rest to let a bit of soreness settle down and the big hitter may be given at least another day out of the lineup.
However, Gerrit Cole will be starting this game and that makes it his third start of the 2026 season having missed all of 2025 recovering from surgery. A setback in Spring Training delayed his opening to the season, but Cole has given Yankees fans a real sense of having their old All Star back having yet to give up a run in his previous two starts.
There have been a couple of Innings where Gerrit Cole has gotten into some difficulty, but the experience has helped him through and he has found a nice rhythm on the mound. Gerrit Cole completed 6 Innings in his first start and has backed that up by going one out shy of completing 7 Innings in his second.
The pitcher is going to be under a new pressure when facing the Cleveland Guardians (35-27) who scored nine runs to win the game on Monday and who lead the American League Central. Last season these teams split six games in the regular season and the Guardians have won two of the last three.
Cleveland will turn to Gavin Williams who has an 8-3 record and 3.07 ERA in twelve starts in 2026 and who continues to develop into one of the top pitchers in the Major Leagues. This is the fourth season at this level and Williams finished with a 3.06 ERA last year, which makes his early start to this campaign a very positive one for the Guardians.
Gavin Williams opened May with back to back decision losses as he gave up ten runs across two starts, but he has regained his footing on the mound. The last three starts in that month produced a 3-0 record and a 1.29 ERA, while Gavin Williams held the New York Yankees to two runs into the 7th Inning in his sole start against them last season.
Prediction
Both starting pitchers will feel they can give the team a platform for success and it could be a low-scoring contest, especially compared to the thirteen runs scored on Monday.
Gavin Williams has really put together a solid start to the season, but the Cleveland Guardians are still a bit more inconsistent in the batting lineup compared with the New York Yankees.
With Gerrit Cole going to the mound, the home team may have the narrow edge and they can level up this series before the Thursday decider.
The Pick :
New York Yankees 3-2 Cleveland Guardians
