Best MLB Bets Today: Dodgers vs Yankees Predictions for Game 5 of the World Series (Oct 30)

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The New York Yankees kept their title hopes alive, staving off elimination for one night with a big win at home on Tuesday.

(Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Now, they'll look to send the series back to Los Angeles with Gerrit Cole on the mound in their final home game of the series, tasked with winning the next three games in succession in order to steal away this series and make history in the process.

Let's get right into things and hand out our MLB Best Bets for Wednesday, October 30.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS VS NEW YORK YANKEES PREDICTION

Despite taking the ball and helping the Dodgers win Game 1 of this series in comfortable fashion, Jack Flaherty still looked a little too much like Jack Flaherty we saw struggle down the stretch and in two previous starts this postseason.

• Flaherty has only found success behind the strikeout this postseason, and in a larger sense in his time with L.A.
• He's allowed four home runs through four starts, adding eight walks over 20 2/3 innings pitched.

Flaherty's Expected Slugging still stood at .420 in that Game 1 start and his Expected Batting Average at .245, so with fewer strikeouts and more balls in play he would have surely allowed more than the two runs he had his on his line.

This is a man who pitched to a lower 24.3% strikeout rate in the final month of the season with a high 10.8% walk rate, yielding unsightly expected numbers on contact. The Yankees, meanwhile, have gotten back to what they've done best, walking six times and recording just four strikeouts at the dish in Game 4.

I don't mean to hammer home expected numbers, but the way the Yankees have hit the ball all postseason hasn't been reflected in the results. There's a good chance that could continue on Wednesday with the Dodgers' defense still looking strong, but you have to like their chances given how poorly Flaherty has pitched for the last two-plus months.

• It should also be said here that the Yankees' bullpen has far out-worked the Dodgers' bullpen, pitching to a 2.29 ERA as opposed to L.A.'s mark of 7.27. The expected numbers would back that up, too, as L.A.'s stable owns an atrocious .585 xSLG to go along with a .274 xBA with continued issues in the walks department.

The chips should fall for the Yankees here, leaning on Cole for another positive start after he worked six innings of one-run ball in Game 1. He's now pitched to a 2.08 ERA in three starts since a rocky outing in Game 1 of the ALDS versus Kansas City, and while the strikeouts haven't com in bunches he's been able to limit walks and home runs.

Best Bet: Yankees ML (-144 at FanDuel)

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MLB PLAYER PROPS FOR DODGERS VS YANKEES

This is a deep cut, but it's very hard to look past Anthony Rizzo's ownership of Flaherty in his career.

• The veteran has gone 10-for-23 against the righty in his lifetime, and while both men have that in the back of their minds I think we'll see Flaherty work awfully carefully when it's Rizzo's turn through the order.

The Yankees first baseman has worked five walks in 30 plate appearances against Flaherty, and has now walked four times in this series with at least one in each of the first three games against L.A.

He's totaled seven in his nine playoff games this year, and will be up against a pitcher who's had some serious issues in the walks department before drawing some matchups against a bullpen which has had the same plight in the playoffs.

With a careful approach against a team which has made a bad habit out of walking opposing hitters in October, this price is incredibly generous.

Best Bet: Anthony Rizzo Over 0.5 Total Walks (+175 at BetMGM)

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MLB NRFI PREDICTION FOR DODGERS VS YANKEES

Flaherty has now worked a scoreless first in three of his four starts this postseason, while Cole has been unblemished in the first every time he's taken the ball.

• That makes this first frame rather interesting, considering Flaherty worked a scoreless first in 79% of his starts this season to Cole's mark of 82%.

Juan Soto's hit just .182 against Flaherty in his career, and the top three in this order are now a combined 4-for-20 against the righty in their respective careers. That includes the struggling Aaron Judge, too, who's yet to show many signs of life on offense.

On the flip side, Shohei Ohtani's been held in check this series and seems a bit limited by injury, and has also managed just four hits in 23 at-bats off of Cole. Freddie Freeman stands to be a liability here, sure, but his .259 xBA against Cole gives me just enough faith to call the NRFI here after we successfully called the YRFI a night ago.

NRFI Prediction: Dodgers vs Yankees NRFI (-118 at FanDuel)

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