The New York Yankees (9-3) begin a three-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays (5-7) at 6:40 p.m. ET Friday evening at Tropicana Field. We analyze the Yankees-Rays betting odds and lines with MLB picks and best bets.
Yankees at Rays: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Masahiro Tanaka vs. LHP Blake Snell
Tanaka caught a Summer Camp liner off his head in July. He has since rehabbed and returned but is making just his second start of the campaign Friday. The 31-year-old has logged a 3.75 ERA over 165 career games. He clocked in with a 4.45 ERA on a diminished 7.4 K/9 in 2019.
- Tanaka threw 51 pitches in his first game, so a likely scenario Friday has him handing the ball to the Yankee bullpen in the mid-innings. The right-hander exhibited an uptick in fastball velocity in his debut, and that’s something that bears watching over the next couple starts.
- Tanaka owns a sub-3.00 over his last four starts at the Trop. Overall, he has held current Rays bats to a .243/.280/.419 slash line while posting a 6:1 K/BB ratio.
Snell has pitched five frames over two starts, notching a 5.40 ERA. The 2018 Cy Young winner posted a 4.29 ERA a year ago.
- Yankees batters own a high-contact .837 OPS against Snell, who a year ago posted a 4.50 ERA in five starts against New York.
- Snell owns a career ERA of 2.47 in his domed home yard in St. Petersburg.
- He makes this start on six days’ rest. That’s an iffy interval over his career. Last season Snell logged a 6.98 ERA over five such games.
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Yankees at Rays: Key injuries
Get the latest injury news here.
- RP Aroldis Chapman (COVID-19 recovery) cleared, but doubtful
- RP Tommy Kahnle (elbow) out
Rays
- OF Manuel Margot (personal) out
Yankees at Rays: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 9 a.m. ET.
Moneyline (ML)
The Yankees outscored the Rays, 96-56, in taking 12 of 19 meetings a year ago. As team numbers go, New York is typically a bit more out over its skis and susceptible to being overbet., but that’s not the case here. The underlying matchup on the pitching side makes the YANKEES (-110) play one worth considering.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Yankees to win returns a profit of $9.09.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
AVOID the juice-filled YANKEES -1 (+115) play.
Over/Under (O/U)
The Under is 6-1 in New York’s last seven totals set below 9.0 and 4-0 in the last four Tropicana games between the Yanks and Rays. Both bullpens are top-10 in terms of quality and depth.
The UNDER 8.5 (-110) has some value.
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