The Tampa Bay Rays look to eliminate the New York Yankees in Game 4 of their best-of-five AL Division Series Thursday at 7:10 p.m. at San Diego’s Petco Park. Top-seeded Tampa Bay will be the visitor one more game after playing the first two as the home team. Below, we analyze the Rays-Yankees Game 4 MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Series: Rays lead 2-1.
Wednesday: Tampa Bay won 8-4, moving one win away from advancing. LF Randy Arozarena, a 25-year-old rookie from Cuba, homered in a third consecutive game, while CF Kevin Kiermaier and C Michael Perez also went yard.
On the Yankees side, DH Giancarlo Stanton homered for the fifth game in a row and became the first major leaguer to homer in each of his team’s first five games of a single postseason.
Rays vs. Yankees: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Ryan Thompson vs. LHP Jordan Montgomery
Thompson, who made his MLB debut July 24, went 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA (26 1/3 IP, 13 ER) and 1 save in 25 games this season. He’ll take the hill as an opener in his second career start.
- Last outing: 2 scoreless relief innings against the Yankees in Game 1 Monday, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 HBP – Rays lost 9-3
- First career start (also as an opener): 2 scoreless innings, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K vs. Yankees Aug. 8 – Rays won 5-3
- Career vs. Yankees (regular season): 1-1, 6.00 ERA (6 IP, 4 ER), 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K in 5 games, including 1 start
- Career postseason: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (3 1/3 IP, 0 ER) in 2 relief appearances
Montgomery was 2-3 with a 5.11 ERA (44 IP, 25 ER) in 10 regular-season starts this season. This will be his first career postseason appearance.
- Last start: Loss, 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 8 K at Toronto Blue Jays Sept. 24 – Yankees lost 4-1
- 2020 vs. Rays: 1 start (Sept. 2), Loss, 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K – Yankees lost 5-2
- Career vs. Rays: 1-2, 5.14 ERA (21 IP, 12 ER) in 6 starts
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Rays vs. Yankees: Key injuries
(Get the latest injury news here.)
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Rays vs. Yankees: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 7:40 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Rays 8, Yankees 5
Money line (ML)
The RAYS (+115) are the STRONGEST PLAY – 1.5 times your usual wager.
The Rays have shown they can go bat-for-bat with the Bronx Bombers, but it’s their bullpen (3.37 regular-season ERA) that puts them over the top.
Tampa Bay relievers allowed just 2 runs over 8 innings in the last 2 games. New York’s bullpen has yielded 5 runs in 9 1/3 innings during the last 2 games, and that doesn’t include the 4 runs J.A. Happ surrendered in Game 2 when he entered in the second inning.
Meanwhile, in Montgomery’s last 2 starts, he was pounded for 7 runs on 11 hits and 2 walks over 10 innings.
The RAYS (+115), who took the regular-season series 8-2, punch their AL Championship Series ticket Thursday night.
New to sports betting? Every $1 bet on the Rays ML profits $1.15 if they win. Every winning $1.28 bet on the Yankees ML (-128) will profit $1.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
Rays +1.5 (-183) | Yankees -1.5 (+150)
No need to get greedy. I’ll PASS and focus on the Rays’ ML and the Over.
Over/Under (O/U)
Back the OVER 9.5 (-106) with a small wager – half your usual bet. Let’s ride the Over train, which is 3-0 in the series.
If it comes down to 9, make it a regular play.
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 | 69-45-1 |
| 2020 MLB postseason | 5-8 |
| 2020 overall record (all sports) | 110-75-3 |
| Strongest plays (all sports) | 56-29-1 |
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