The fifth-seeded New York Yankees and No. 1 seed Tampa Bay Rays open their best-of-five AL Division Series Monday at 8:07 p.m. (on TBS). The entire series will be played at San Diego’s Petco Park. Below, we analyze the Yankees-Rays MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Season series: Rays won 8-2
Yankees vs. Rays: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Gerrit Cole vs. LHP Blake Snell
Cole went 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA (73 IP, 23 ER) with 94 K in 12 regular- season starts.
- Last start: Win, 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 13 K at Cleveland Indians in Wild Card Series Game 1 last Tuesday – Yankees won 12-3
- 2020 vs. Rays: 1-2, 4.96 ERA (16 1/3 IP, 9 ER), 27 K in 3 starts
- Career vs. Rays (regular season): 0-3, 4.07 ERA (42 IP, 19 ER), 64 K in 7 starts
- Career postseason: 7-4, 2.60 ERA (72 2/3 IP, 21 ER), 91 K in 11 starts, including 5-1, 1.85 ERA (43 2/3 IP, 9 ER), 60 K in 6 starts since last year
Snell went 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA (50 IP, 18 ER) and 63 K in 11 regular-season starts.
- Last start: Win, 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 9 K vs. Toronto Blue Jays in Wild Card Series Game 1 last Tuesday – Rays won 3-1
- 2020 vs. Yankees: 1-0, 3.38 ERA (8 IP, 3 ER) in 2 starts – Rays went 2-0
- Career vs. Yankees (regular season): 4-6, 4.31 ERA (77 1/3 IP, 37 ER), 92 K in 18 starts
- Career postseason: 1-1, 0.82 ERA (11 IP, 1 ER) in 2 starts and 2 relief appearances
Get some action on this game or any other matchup with an MLB bet at BetMGM, the King of Sportsbooks, in NJ, IN, CO and WV. Bet now!
Yankees vs. Rays: Key injuries
(Get the latest injury news here.)
Rays
- OF Austin Meadows (oblique) questionable
- RP Jose Alvarado (shoulder) questionable
Yankees vs. Rays: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Rays 2, Yankees 1
Money line (ML)
While this is set up to be a pitchers’ duel, Snell and the RAYS (+135) offer the better value at plus-money.
Every $1.50 bet on the Yankees (-150) profits $1 if they win (or $15.00 to profit $10, $150 to profit $100, etc. …). A $1 Rays bet profits $1.35 if they prevail ($10 to win $135, $100 to win $135).
Both pitchers were money in their Wild Card starts. Cole struck out 13 in 7 scoreless innings, and Snell allowed just one hit in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
Cole was the better pitcher down the stretch, going 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA (27 IP, 3 ER) in four September starts. Snell went 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA (21 1/3 IP, 8 ER) in his four September starts.
Cole hasn’t been that great vs. the Rays in the regular season (see stats above). However, he dominated them in the 2019 ALDS, going 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA (15 2/3 IP, 1 ER) in two starts.
If anyone can answer the call, it’s Snell and the somewhat unknown Tampa Bay offense.
As the No. 1 seed, Tampa Bay is the home team for Games 1 and 2 and then 5 if necessary. I’ll take my chances with the RAYS (+135) in the opener.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
Yankees -1.5 (+110) | Rays +1.5 (-134)
AVOID. Snell vs. Cole could come down to a one-run game. Plus, I’m backing the ML.
Over/Under (O/U)
Back the UNDER 7 (-110) with a small wager – half your usual bet. It’s no surprise the total is so low. I expected to see a 6.5.
What worries me is that Cole’s last 3 starts went Over, but that’s because the Yankees scored 12, 12 and 13 runs. He also yielded 4 runs in 5 innings the last time he faced the Rays, a 5-3 loss Aug. 31. But this is the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Snell has been involved in 3 consecutive Under games, which followed 6 Over results in a row.
Want some action on this game? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips and advice, visit SportsbookWire.com.
| Johnny’s 2020 MLB record | 67-40-1 |
| 2020 MLB postseason | 3-3 |
| 2020 overall record (all sports) | 108-70-3 |
| Strongest plays (all sports) | 55-27-1 |
Follow @JohnnyParlay11 on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1372]