Subscribe
Follow Us
Looking to avoid getting swept by their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays will meet up with the New York Yankees in the Bronx on Thursday evening. It is time to check out our MLB odds series, where our Rays-Yankees prediction and pick will be on display.
In a critical midseason series for the Rays, they have failed to capitalize on shrinking the Yankees' firm lead in the American League East. Regardless, winning the third game of the series on Thursday can still prove to be crucial in keeping pace within the division. On the bump for Tampa Bay will be none other than the southpaw Jalen Beeks, who is 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA in his lone start on the season.
Will the Yankees ever lose again? Winners of six straight including 13 of 14 to climb their way to an absurd 30 games above .500, New York has seemingly forgotten what it was like to lose a baseball game. On track to make his twelfth start of the year will be RHP Luis Severino, who looks like his old self again with a 4-1 record and a minuscule 2.80 ERA.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Rays-Yankees MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Rays-Yankees Odds
Tampa Bay Rays: +1.5 (-102)
New York Yankees: -1.5 (-118)
Over: 7.5 (-115)
Under: 7.5 (-105)
*Watch College Football Games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)
Why The Rays Could Cover the Spread
Just like most teams that have squared off with the powerful Yankees this time of the year, Tampa Bay may have officially entered a funk after dropping the first two matchups at Yankee Stadium. Now have lost four of their last five, the Rays find themselves as urgent as ever to change the tide of things and get back into the win column.
In order to find a way to secure a victory on the road against a very elite team within their home park-like the Yankees, Tampa Bay has to play a near-perfect game and avoid the big mistakes that may end up proving to be costly. On Wednesday, the Rays dug themselves too deep of a hole and trailed 4-0 heading into the fifth. While they made a valiant effort, the Rays cannot afford to have a repeat of the same scenario. Not to mention, but Tampa Bay has made numerous errors over the course of the first two games that have benefitted New York with five of the six runs that they have scored in this series. Putting the pressure on the ‘Yanks early will be as important as ever if they want to avoid getting swept.
In what will likely be a bullpen game for the Rays, does Beeks have what it takes to be efficient versus New York? Beeks may as well be the x-factor in this one for Tampa, as he has made seven appearances against the Yankees in his career but all coming in relief outings. Beeks has compiled an even 4.00 ERA when faced against New York in those appearances and was forced to start in this game after starter Drew Rasmussen has to be moved to the IL after tweaking his hamstring.
Why The Yankees Could Cover the Spread
Off to one of the more prolific starts in not only Yankees lore but in MLB history, New York is playing so well that they may in fact be running out of ways to win. At 46-16 and 28-7 at home, the Yankees possess an all-time great roster that few teams in baseball can compete with night in and night out. In fact, there are zero teams in the league that statistically have been as commanding as New York has been throughout the 2022 season.
On the bump, New York has tossed the best ERA in all of the land at 2.81 and has also pitched to the beat of a league-best mark in WHIP at 1.06. Even more encouraging for Yankees faithful has been the dominant return of Luis Severino. In his last two starts, Severino has showcased his velocity and ability to make batters whiff. With a total of 20 strikeouts under his belt against the Tigers on June 4th and the Cubs on June 10th, Severino is officially back to his dominant ways.
At the plate, the Yankees have scored 313 runs, and a big reason for that has been the explosion of OF Aaron Judge. Judge has obviously had an incredible start to his career, but the massive 6'7″ slugger is on pace for nearly 70 home runs after he muscled an inside pitch to the short porch in right field for his 25th long ball of the season. Leading the league in home runs by a considerable margin, Judge is balling out in ways that he surely couldn't even begin to imagine. If Judge goes yard again on Thursday, chances are New York will cover the spread yet again and win their seventh consecutive game.
Final Rays-Yankees Prediction & Pick
Sorry, not sorry Tampa Bay. Simply put, the Yankees are on a whole other level. The Rays must get lucky in this one, and good fortune has been few and far between for the visitors in this series.
Final Rays-Yankees Prediction & Pick: Yankees -1.5 (-118)
