It is an AL East battle as the New York Yankees face the Tampa Bay Rays. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Yankees-Rays prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Yankees come into the game after losing two of three to the Washington Nationals. It has been a rough go of things for the Yankees as of late. They have lost 10 of their last 11 games, and fallen out of the playoff race. At 61-68, the Yankees are now 18 games out of first place in the division and 10 games out of the final Wild Card spot. They now have just a 0.2 percent chance to make the playoffs according to ESPN.

Meanwhile, the Rays have now won four in a row, and are 7-3 in their last ten games. They are coming off a sweep of the Rockies and are preparing for the stretch run to make the playoffs. The Rays are 78-51 on the season and are just two games behind the Orioles in the American League East. They also have the top Wild Card spot with a six-game lead over the other two Wild Card spots right now.

Here are the Yankees-Rays MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Yankees-Rays Odds

New York Yankees: +1.5 (-196)

Tampa Bay Rays: -1.5 (+162)

Over: 7 (-110)

Under: 7 (-110)

How To Watch Yankees vs. Rays

TV: YES/BSSUN

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 6:40 PM ET/ 3:40 PM PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Yankees Could Cover The Spread

The Yankees have been plagued by bad pitching in their losing spell. In the last 11 games, Yankees pitchers have surrendered 60 runs. On the season they are 14th in team ERA, eighth in WHIP, and second in opponent batting average. The Yankees do send Gerrit Cole to the mound today. He is 10-4 on the season with a 3.03 ERA. The Yankees have lost each of his last three starts, as he has had some struggles. This month is 24 innings of work, he has given up 14 runs including four home runs. That gives him a 5.25 ERA on the month. Last time out, it was six runs given up in just four innings of work against the Red Sox.

The bats have not been great this year for the Yankees. They are tied for 23rd in runs scored, while sitting 29th in batting average, 26th in on-base percentage, and 20th in slugging. Aaron Judge leads the team in home runs and RBIs this year. Judge hit four home runs in the series with the Nationals, including a three-home run game, the first of his career. This month, he is hitting just .231 but has a .371 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, he has his eight home runs, driven in 16 runs, and scored 12 times. Gleyber Torres also comes into the game hitting well. In the last week, he is hitting .333 with a .385 on-base percentage He has two home runs and three RBIs in the last week, while also hitting a double.

Overall, the Yankees have struggled to hit in the last six games. They have just 13 RBIs in the last six games, with eight of those coming from Judge and Torres. They are hitting just .212 with a .294 on-base percentage. The biggest issue has been strikeout. The Yankees have struck out 63 times in the last six games, with three players striking out eight times and another three striking out seven. If the Yankees just improve their on-base and batting average to season average, they should be able to break their cold spell soon.

Why The Rays Could Cover The Spread

While the Yankees offense is struggling, the Rays are not. They are fourth in the majors in runs scored, while also sitting fourth in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging. Isaac Paredes leads the team in home runs and RBIs this year. He is having a solid month as well. This month he is hitting .251 with a .341 on-base percentage. With the help of five home runs and four doubles, he has driven in 17 runs. He has also scored 11 runs this month so far. That includes runs in each of the last four games, while he also has driven in a run in each of the last four.

Josh Lowe joins Paredes in driving in a lot of runs as of late. In the last week, he is hitting .429 with a .478 on-base percentage. With the help of a double and two home runs, he has driven in nine runs in the last week. Meanwhile, he has stolen a base and scored five times. Osleivis Baseabe is also scoring a lot. He is hitting .455 in the last week with a .478 on-base percentage. Baseabe has scored seven times in the last week and driven in seven runs. He has done this while hitting two doubles and a home run.

In the last week, the Rays offense has been great. They are hitting .344 with a .421 on-base percentage. They are also averaging two home runs per game while driving in 56 runs.

On the hill today for the Rays will be Zach Eflin. He is 17-7 on the season with a 3.58 ERA. Minus one start this month, he has been solid. He did have a start of just three innings of work and gave up six runs, but overall, he has pitched 22 innings this month giving up just eight runs. that is good for a 3.27 ERA this month with a 2-1 record. The Rays are also 3-1 in his starts this month so far.

Final Yankees-Rays Prediction & Pick

Normally Gerrit Cole is going to give a team the edge in the pitching match-up, but he does not in this one. He has struggled as of late while Zach Eflin has been solid. Meanwhile, the Rays offense is coming into this game hot, while the Yankees have been awful. Eflin has been a solid strike-out pitcher this year, and that will continue again in this one. Eflin faced the Rays back on August 1st, and he gave up just three hits in six innings with five strikeouts. He did not give up a run in that one, and that could continue in this game. Take the Rays in this one.

Final Yankees-Rays Prediction & Pick: Rays -1.5 (+162)