Yankees vs Rays Prediction 4/18/25 MLB Picks Today

The New York Yankees are visiting the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, April 18^th at the George M. Steinbrenner Field. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Yankees vs Rays Prediction. We will examine:

The Tampa Bay Rays recent form and player performance

The New York Yankees recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Tampa Bay Rays

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the New York Yankees

Recent betting trends in games played between the New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays game

Tampa Bay Rays Preview

The Tampa Bay Rays have an 8-11 record this season and are sitting on the last place of the AL East. The Rays have an 8-9 home record and are 8-9 in over/under. They are coming off a 3-6 home defeat by the New York Yankees and are playing the Diamondbacks and the Padres next. They have three consecutive losses and over is 6-1-2 in their last 9 games. The Rays have a .270 batting average this season, .333 OBP and .418 slugging percentage. Tampa’s pitching staff has a 3.58 ERA and 1.15 WHIP.  Jonathan Aranda leads the Rays with 20 hits, while also leading the team with a .377 batting average. Brandon Lowe leads the team in RBI with 11.

Drew Rasmussen (R) will take the mound for the Rays, and he has a 1-0 record, 0.60 ERA and 0.73 WHIP. He has allowed just one earned run in his three starts this season in 15 innings of work, and he has been terrific in his three starts against the Yankees in his career, with zero earned runs in 18.2 innings of work.

New York Yankees Preview

The New York Yankees have a 12-7 record this season and are sitting on the first place of the AL East. The Yankees have a 4-3 road record and are 10-7 in over/under. They are coming off a 6-3 road victory over the Rays, and now have four consecutive wins. They are 3-0-1 to the under in their last 4 games and are playing the Guardians and the Blue Jays next. The Yankees have a .260 batting average this season, .345 OBP and .481 Slugging percentage. New York’s pitching staff has a 4.15 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. Aaron Judge leads the Yankees with 28 hits, 22 RBI and 7 home runs, as he also has a team-high .400 batting average.

Carlos Rodon (L) will take the mound for the Yankees, and he has a 1-3 record, 5.48 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He has 4+ earned runs in his last three starts, and in his two starts against the Rays last season he had 5 earned runs in 11 innings of work.

Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win

• The Yankees have lost each of their last six road games against the Rays following a road win.
• The Rays have won four of their last five games against the Yankees following a loss.
• The Yankees have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six road games against the Rays following a road win.
• The Rays have covered the run line in four of their last five games against the Yankees following a loss.
• The Yankees have lost the first inning in six of their last eight night games against AL East opponents that held a losing record.
• The Yankees have trailed after 3 innings in seven of their last eight night games against AL East opponents that held a losing record.
• The Yankees have trailed after 5 innings in six of their last eight night games against AL East opponents that held a losing record.

Why the New York Yankees will win

• The Yankees have won each of their last six night games against American League opponents.
• The Rays have lost six of their last seven games against teams that held a winning record.
• The Rays have failed to cover the run line in eight of their last nine home games against American League opponents.
• The Yankees have covered the run line in each of their last five road games against American League opponents following a road win.
• The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in 10 of their last 13 home games against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
• The Rays have lost the first inning in three of their last four home games against AL East opponents that held a winning record.

Total Runs Facts

• Four of the Yankees’ last five road games against AL East opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
• Three of the last four games between the Yankees and Rays have gone OVER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in eight of the Rays’ last nine games.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last four road games against AL East opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Rays rank 30th in the league for home runs allowed this season (30).
• The Rays rank 2nd in the league for walks allowed this season (46).
• The Yankees rank T1st in the league for home runs this season (34).
• The Yankees rank 1st in the league for slugging percentage this season (.481).

Yankees vs Rays Prediction

Both teams are tied 5-5 wins in their last 10 overall meetings, and the Yankees are 4-3 in their last 7 meetings in Tampa. Over is 6-2-2 in their last 10 meetings.

In this Yankees vs Rays Prediction, both teams are priced at even money (-110). The Yankees are hot again, having won their last four games, and the Rays have dropped three straight, but they have a major pitching advantage in this game. Both bullpens are fairly even, but I am not willing to go against a Yankees team that plays good baseball right now. Rasmussen is elite to start the season and has contained the Yankees’ bats throughout his career, and I expect him to do so again today. Take the Tampa Bay Rays on the moneyline in the first 5 innings only.