2020-10-08 19:10:00 EDT
The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees meet Thursday night in game four of the American League ALDS MLB playoffs at Petco Park.
The Tampa Bay Rays will advance to their first ALCS since 2008 with a victory here. The Tampa Bay Rays offense once again exploded in their game three victory, producing eight runs and 13 hits. The Rays have now scored 15 runs in their last two games and they’ve now won 19 straight games when scoring more than three runs. The Rays are simply going to be a tough out as long as the offense continues to produce at this level. Randy Arozarena leads the Rays with 12 hits and four RBI while Joey Wendle and Kevin Kiermaier have combined for 10 hits and four RBI. Ryan Thompson gets the ball, and he was 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA and 23 strikeouts this season. Thompson is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and two strikeouts in his postseason career.
The New York Yankees need a victory here to save their season and force a game five on Friday. The New York Yankees offense is averaging six runs per game in this series, but the pitching staff better figure things out if they’re going to have any chance of advancing. The Yankees have scored no less than four runs in all five playoff games, but the pitching staff hasn’t done them many favors in their last two contests. DJ LeMahieu leads the Yankees with seven hits and three RBI while Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres have combined for 14 hits and 16 RBI. Jordan Montgomery gets the ball, and he was 2-3 with a 5.11 ERA and 47 strikeouts this season. Montgomery has no postseason experience.
The Rays are 4-1 in their last 5 games as an underdog, 4-1 in their last 5 Thursday games and 14-6 in their last 20 during game 4 of a series. The Yankees are 4-1 in their last 5 Divisional Playoff games, 15-7 in their last 22 games as a favorite and 1-4 in their last 5 Thursday games. The over is 4-0 in Rays last 4 overall. The over is 5-0 in Yankees last 5 overall. The Rays are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings in New York and 9-2 in the last 11 meetings. The over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
This isn’t the most ideal pitching matchup in a playoff game, as Thompson struggled in a limited role this season and has just 3.1 career postseason innings. Montgomery had major issues this season and he also has no playoff experience. We’re likely going to see a lot of runs in this contest, but if forced to pick, I’d give the edge to the Yankees. The New York Yankees have the better batting lineup and in a battle with two shaky pitchers and likely a lot of bullpen use, I’d side with the Yankees and their ability to score a great deal of runs. Not the best bet on the board for Thursday’s MLB card, but with their season on line, I expect the Yankees to force a deciding game five.
