The Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees meet Friday in MLB action from Yankee Stadium. Here’s a Rays vs Yankees prediction. This will be the opener in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game.
Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview
The Rays are coming off a four-game series versus the Los Angeles Angels this week. Tampa Bay lost two of the first three games, then on Thursday the Rays scored twice in the very first inning and held on for the win 2-1. Amed Rosario (two hits; run) and Harold Ramirez each had one RBI in the victory.
It’ll be Tyler Alexander in the starting role for the Rays on Friday. This year, in three games (one start), Alexander is 1-0 with a 6.46 ERA and 12 Ks in 15.1 innings. Over his career Alexander is 12-23 with a 4.47 ERA in 123 games (44 starts).
New York Yankees Betting Preview
Over on the Yankees’ side, they took on the Toronto Blue Jays in their last series. New York lost the first two games of that set, but staved off the sweep with a 6-4 win in the finale. Both Juan Soto (three hits; homer) and Aaron Judge provided a pair of RBI in the late comeback. Starter Marcus Stroman lasted 5.1 innings with two earned runs.
As starter for Friday’s matchup, the Yankees are going with Clarke Schmidt. This year, Schmidt is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA in three starts. He has 16 Ks in 14.2 innings. Over his career, Schmidt is 15-15 with a 4.32 ERA in 70 games (40 starts) total.
New York Yankees Team Facts
- The Yankees have won 10 of their last 11 night games against American League opponents following a road win.
- The Yankees have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 16 Friday home games against AL East opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last four games.
Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts
- The Rays have lost eight of their last nine games following a home win.
- The Rays have failed to cover the run line in eight of their last nine games following a home win.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last five road games against American League opponents.
Rays vs Yankees Prediction
I’ll probably lean toward the Yankees in the opener. New York should be in good hands with Schmidt in the start. He’s coming off a win over the Guardians with 5.0 innings, one earned, three hits and five walks. A quality outing from Schmidt should set New York up for a potential victory.
As for the Rays, on Thursday they didn’t have the biggest day on offense (five team hits), but their pitching staff held the team in the game after an early lead. The Tampa pen (Garrett Cleavinger, Phil Maton and Colin Poche) combined for 3.0 clean innings, three hits, no walks and four Ks. Should be a fun matchup against the Yankees this weekend.