Take it to the Max

Max Fried is back to being Max Fried, and that basically makes him a Cy Young candidate again.

Fried has been shutting teams down since returning, and I expect more of the same tonight against one of the worst road teams in baseball. He has not allowed more than one run in any of his last five starts, giving up just four total runs over that span. When Fried is pitching like this, he makes life very difficult for opposing lineups, and Colorado is not exactly the team I want to bet on to suddenly figure him out.

The Rockies will send Ryan Feltner to the mound, and he has the unenviable task of facing this new-look Yankees lineup.

Feltner is coming off a start against the Cardinals in which he allowed four runs over five innings. That was hardly an outlier. He has now allowed at least four runs in three of his last four starts and in seven of his last 10. Even more concerning for Colorado is that Feltner simply hasn't been able to work deep into games.

He has failed to reach the sixth inning in each of his last six starts and has done so just once in his last 10. That means the Rockies will likely be turning the game over to their bullpen early, and that's another advantage for the Yankees.

Yes, this is a high line, but there is a reason for it. When you have Fried pitching like an ace, a Yankees lineup that has added some serious punch and a Colorado team that has struggled on the road, I'm not interested in getting cute.

The pick: Yankees run line.

This is a spot where I'll pay the price and trust the better team, the better starting pitcher and the better bullpen to take care of business.

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