New York at Chicago

Shota Imanaga isn't walking into this one cold. He's riding two straight scoreless outings and a 1.55 ERA over his last five turns, the best stretch of his season, and that's the honest case against backing New York this afternoon. But look past the pitcher's mound. Chicago's bullpen is stripped down to the studs — Phil Maton, Ethan Roberts, Hoby Milner and Ben Brown are all out, and the relievers left are running a 3.89 ERA, with Maton alone sitting on a 6.33 mark in his recent work. New York's relief corps has been the opposite story, a 2.84 ERA that ranks among the best in baseball, and the Yankees arrive having won seven of their last ten compared to Chicago's six. Will Warren has scuffled his last few times out, but this number isn't really about him — it's about who's better equipped if this game is still level in the seventh. We caught the Cubs on the wrong side five days ago in Pittsburgh, backing against a shaky Jameson Taillon, and it cashed. Both clubs sit dead even at 61-46, which makes plus money on the hotter team, with the deeper bullpen, worth taking. New York is the play this afternoon.