The New York Yankees will host the Tampa Bay Rays for three series this season and the first of those at Yankee Stadium begins on Friday night. The Yankees will be favored on the MLB Betting Lines behind big lefty and future Hall of Famer CC Sabathia.
How to Bet Rays vs Yankees MLB Odds & Game Info
Be uncommon. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/UDGxrYuI8z
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) 16 de mayo de 2019
- When: Friday, 7 PM ET
- Where: Yankee Stadium
- Probable pitchers (away/home): TBA/CC Sabathia
- TV: MLB Network
- Live Stream: MLB.tv
- Radio: 104.5 The Fan
- MLB Odds: TBA
Season Series
New York leads 2-1, winning that set last weekend at Tropicana Field. The finale was notable for a ninth-inning power outage in that dump of a stadium. Play resumed after a 43-minute delay. New York won that game 7-1 behind Masahiro Tanaka. That game was also notable as the debut of Anthony Bemboom for the Rays. He started behind the plate and became the oldest position player at 29 to make his major league debut with the team.
Why Bet on Tampa Bay?
The Rays just won’t go away atop the AL East and swept the Marlins two games to open this week, not allowing a run in either game. However, Yandy Diaz left Wednesday’s game against the Marlins with ankle discomfort. Diaz was taken out of the game and replaced by Daniel Robertson at third in the bottom of the seventh. The Rays are calling the 28-year-old day-to-day. Diaz has been a big surprised for the Rays this year so it would be a significant loss if he has to miss time. Diaz is hitting .273 with nine homers and 22 RBIs.
Catcher Anthony Bemboom also left Wednesday’s win, with knee soreness, and Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters that it will require a trip to the injured list. Bemboom was 2-for-2 when he was subbed out for Travis d’Arnaud. It means that Nick Ciuffo will be brought back up from Triple-A Durham. He was just optioned down for d’Arnaud on Saturday.
Finally, outfielder Guillermo Heredia left Wednesday’s game with a contusion on his right hand. Heredia was hit in the hand by an offering after he pinch-hit for Jalen Beeks. X-rays were negative and Heredia is considered day-to-day.
Diego Castillo struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning to record a save versus the Marlins on Wednesday. He was protecting a 1-0 lead. Castillo is part of a closer committee for the Rays but seems to be getting most of the save chances of late. He has five saves with a 1.57 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 23 innings.
The Rays use an “opener” more than any team so it’s not clear who they will “start” in this game. Tampa only has three true starters in Blake Snell, Charlie Morton, and Tyler Glasnow, who is currently hurt.
The Rays are 9-2-2 in series play this season, and 18-3-4 in their last 25 series and 21-4-4 in their last 29 series, both dating back to the end of last season. They haven’t lost a road series since Aug 17-19, 2018 at Boston (1-2), going 7-0-4 in 11 series since. This season, they are 4-0-2 in series play on the road, including 7-0 in series openers.
Team Stats
Offense- Runs: 4.51
- Hits: 8.68
- Walks: 3.80
- Strike Outs: 9.51
Defense
- Runs: 3.00
- Hits: 6.90
- Walks: 2.80
- Strike Outs: 10.05
Why Bet on NY Yankees?
The injury-ravaged Yankees said goodbye for this season to 2018 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Miguel Andujar this week. He’s having season-ending shoulder surgery that has hampered him all year. He finishes the season with a .128 average over 47 at-bats along with a .271 OPS.
Andjuar was sidelined by the injury from April 1 to May 3, and he struggled mightily in his return before returning to the injured list. The 24-year-old Andujar was a major factor in the Yankees’ run to a playoff spot last season, hitting .297 with 27 home runs and 92 RBIs. Without Andujar this season, the Yankees have relied on Gio Urshela at third base.
Still on the injured list for New York are outfielders Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, shortstop Didi Gregorius and starting pitchers Luis Severino and James Paxton.
Catcher Gary Sanchez was on the injured list for a while but he’s back and hitting well. After hitting .186 during an injury-truncated 2018, Sanchez has returned to his previous, All-Star-level form with some key tweaks at the plate and a clean bill of health. Sanchez has hit popping 12 home runs in just 26 games and 107 plate appearances, posting a .400 isolated power number to go with his .263/.346/.663 batting line. Sanchez’s 95.3 mph average exit velocity is second to the Rangers’ Joey Gallo, while he’s 14th in hard-hit percentage.
Yankees lefty CC Sabathia (2-1, 3.26) struck out two and allowed two runs on three hits and four walks across five innings in a no-decision against the Rays last Saturday. Avisail Garcia homered in the second and Yandy Diaz added a third-inning shot off Sabathia, who has allowed eight homers over 30⅓ innings in six starts.
Sabathia was removed after five frames despite throwing only 76 pitches, only to see the bullpen immediately give up two runs after his exit. The veteran left-hander has thrown at least five innings in each of his first six starts — though he has yet to complete six frames — and has allowed three runs or fewer in all but one outing.
Team Stats
Offense- Runs: 4.95
- Hits: 8.31
- Walks: 3.55
- Strike Outs: 8.60
Defense
- Runs: 4.00
- Hits: 7.60
- Walks: 3.26
- Strike Outs: 9.50
Rays vs Yankees MLB Betting Trends
- Under is 7-0 in the last 7 meetings in New York
- Yankees are 4-1 in Sabathia’s last 5 home starts vs. Rays
- Yankees are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games
- Rays are 8-22 in the last 30 meetings in New York
- Rays are 2-5 SU in their last 7 games against NY Yankees
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tampa Bay’s last 5 games on the road
- The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Yankees’ last 6 games against Tampa Bay
Expert Final Score Prediction for Rays vs Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays 3 – New York Yankees 5
