Pick on the Total for the Yankees-Astros game on October 23

The New York Yankees have fallen into an 0-3 series hole and look to starter Nestor Cortes to keep their season alive at home against the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees (-125, 6.5)

Cortes has been at his best in the Bronx with a 2.03 ERA between his 17 starts at home between the regular and postseason with a rate of just over 0.5 home runs per nine innings allowed.

While the Yankees need could use a quality start from Cortes, it’s the offense that has caused the Yankees to go down 3-0 in this series; recording 41 strikeouts and just four runs, two of which were via errors.

The Yankees lead the American League in home runs and total runs and will look to get out of their funk against Lance McCullers Jr.

McCullers has allowed three runs or fewer in all nine of his starts this season but is issuing nearly four walks per nine innings and if he will be fully healthy for this start is unknown.

McCullers’ elbow hit a champaign bottle when celebrating the team’s divisional series win against the Seattle Mariners, causing him to start Game Four instead of Game Three.

The Yankees and Astros are the top two American League teams in home runs this season and will break through on Sunday.

The Play: Astros vs. Yankees Over 6.5