The Tampa Bay Rays (30-11) and New York Yankees (23-18) meet Sunday afternoon to cap off a 4-game AL East series at Yankee Stadium. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Rays vs. Yankees odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: Tied 3-3
Tampa Bay let leads slip away in 1-run losses Saturday (6-5) and Sunday (9-8). The due-some-regression Rays are 1-4 in their last 5 games.
New York has evidently busted out of a batting slump that saw the club average 2.63 runs per game from April 28-May 6. The return of Aaron Judge from the IL (hip) has obviously helped. Judge has reached base 8 times in his last 4 games, and he hit 2 HRs in a Saturday come-from-behind win. The Yanks have a 7.43 scoring average over their last 7 games.
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Rays at Yankees projected starters
RHP Zach Eflin vs. RHP Clarke Schmidt
Eflin (4-1, 2.91 ERA) makes his 7th start. He has a 1.03 WHIP, 1.1 BB/9 and 9.3 K/9 in 34 innings.
- Has gone at least 5 innings in each start this season
- Has a 5.68 ERA, 1.41 on the road the last 3 seasons (2021-23)
- Owns a 4.41 ERA, 1.28 WHIP over a 7-year career
Schmidt (1-3, 5.35 ERA) is tabbed for his 9th start. He has a 1.61 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9 and 11.0 K/9 in 35 1/3 innings.
- Has held current Tampa Bay batters to an aggregate .600 OPS
- Has pitched around a .380 batting average on balls in play
- Owns a 3.22 ERA at home over the last 3 years
Rays at Yankees odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 11:46 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Rays -120 (bet $120 to win $100) | Yankees +102 (bet $100 to win $102)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Rays -1.5 (+132) | Yankees +1.5 (-160)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -118 | U: -104)
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Rays at Yankees picks and predictions
Prediction
Yankees 5, Rays 4
Moneyline
BACK THE YANKEES (+102).
With Saturday’s rally for a win, the Yanks are 5-1 over their last 6 home games against the Rays.
New York has had the tougher slate to date. Peg the Yankees as a couple games better than what their record shows, and the opposite is true for Tampa Bay.
Schmidt has had improved results of late, pitches well at home, and has handled the Rays in past, albeit limited, meetings.
Run line/Against the spread
PASS.
Stick to the ML play here — the added juice here chips away at the home side plus a run.
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Over/Under
The Yanks have played in 6 straight Overs, and the Over is 7-1 in the last 8 Tampa-New York series games. But there is fade-both-offenses pull here. With an inward breeze in the forecast, AVOID this game.
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