Yankees vs. Rangers prediction and odds for Thursday, April 27 (Matchup favors pitche

The New York Yankees start a weekend series in Arlington, Texas against the Rangers with the team's ace Gerrit Cole toeing the rubber.

Cole has been a Cy Young level pitcher for New York this season and will face a banged up Rangers team that has done a good job of staying above .500 without Corey Seager. The Rangers will try to keep down the Yankees lineup with former New York pitcher, left-hander Andrew Heaney.

How should we attack this matchup? Here are the odds:

Cole has been as good as ever this season. He leads the big leagues in innings pitched this season with 34 in five starts, including a complete game, and has only allowed three earned runs while striking out nearly four batters for every walk. He's a monster.

The Rangers enter with an elite lineup, ranking in the top five in wRC+, and are top 10 in slugging percentage. However, I think Cole keeps a lid on the offense that has played the easiest schedule in baseball, per TeamRankings.com.

However, former Yankees starter Heaney should be able to hold down the fort, too. The left-hander has been decent this season, allowing nine runs in over 18 innings, but the real edge is with the Yankees struggles against southpaws. New York is dead last in baseball in on-base percentage against lefties, so this could be a struggle at the plate.

Yankees fans may flock to fade Heaney after he struggled with the team, but I think the under is the safer play with the team's struggles at the dish early on.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.