MLB Baseball
2026-07-22 - Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Yankees
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Wednesday 22nd July 2026 - Scheduled 1:05pm EST
6:05pm (British Time)
Preview
Despite the injuries in the batting lineup, the New York Yankees (56-44) have to be feeling pretty positive about the improving health of the starting pitching rotation. That has been key to keeping them on track for a spot in the Playoffs later in the year and the Yankees are just 2 games out of the lead in the American League East.
Big money has been invested to give the Yankees a starting rotation to rival any in the Major League, but injuries have meant they have not been able to use the full complement of stars. That changes on Wednesday with Max Fried expected to return to the rotation and join the likes of Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole in giving New York a set of players capable of leading them to a deep run.
With that in mind, the Yankees may choose to bring in more batting help after the news around Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, but that is talk for another day and the focus is on this double-header against the Pittsburgh Pirates (52-49) who have ambitions of making the post-season of their own.
The Yankees will give the ball to Gerrit Cole in the opener who has a 3-5 record and 3.93 ERA from ten starts made in 2026. He is going to be facing his former team for the third time and Cole has a 1-0 record and a 2.45 ERA from the previous two.
After missing all of 2025 and large parts of 2024, Gerrit Cole is still finding his rhythm on the mound and he has a 5.10 ERA in his last eight starts after returning with back to back scoreless outings. He has allowed five runs in a little over 12 Innings thrown in losing consecutive decisions, but the Yankees are still firmly behind Gerrit Cole ahead of his latest start.
The Pirates will counter by handing the ball to Mitch Keller as they continue to chase a Wild Card spot in the National League. Pittsburgh are 11 games behind National League Central leaders Milwaukee Brewers, but would be holding a Wild Card spot if the season was to end today and that is a far better position than they have been for much of the last decade.
Mitch Keller is going to have to turn things around to help the Pirates and the pitcher heads into this game with a 6-7 record and 5.14 ERA from nineteen starts made this season. Credit has to be given to Keller for his availability in recent seasons, but his ERA is on course to be his worst in several seasons and that has to change to help the Pirates force their way back into post-season Baseball.
It has been a tough run for Mitch Keller who has a 1-5 record and 7.62 ERA from his last eight starts and he has lost both starts made in July. This is the first since the All Star Break, but Mitch Keller is facing a Yankees team against whom he has a 0-2 record and 10.24 ERA from the two previous starts made against them.
New York took the opener of this inter-League series on Monday, but they have two games to play on Wednesday after rain forced a postponement.
Prediction
Both starting pitchers have something to prove in this one, but the edge may be with Gerrit Cole to lay a stronger foundation than Mitch Keller.
The bullpen will be ready to go for both teams, but the hope is that these two veterans will be able to help rest some arms in a double-header.
New York have just found a bit of form in the last couple of weeks and they can do enough to take this early game.
The Pick :
New York Yankees 6-4 Pittsburgh Pirates
