New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays Betting Pick & Prediction 5/11/24
The Yankees and Rays are set to face off in an AL East matchup at 4:10 PM ET on Saturday. This one is being played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg and features a Yankees club that is 26-14 this season. The Rays are 19-20.
New York comes into this one as the favorite, with money line odds of -128, and the over/under line is sitting at 8 runs. Saturday’s pitching matchup is Nestor Cortes for the Yankees and Zack Littell for the Rays.
TAMPA BAY RAYS VS NEW YORK YANKEES BETTING PICK
The Pick: Tampa Bay Rays Moneyline +107
This game will be played at Tropicana Field at 4:10 ET on Saturday, May 11th.
HOW TO BET THE YANKEES VS RAYS:
- We have the Rays winning by a score of 6 to 5
- If you’re looking for a run line pick, we also like the Rays to cover
- As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 11 runs and like the over
New York picked up a 2-0 win over the Rays in the most recent game of this series. The Yankees offense only had one more hit than the Rays and struck out nine times, but still picked up a win thanks to a good outing from Clarke Schmidt, who went 6 2/3 innings and didn’t give up a run.
Tampa Bay wasted a good outing from Taj Bradley, who gave up just one run in six innings of work. He did finish the game with seven strikeouts but issued two walks. As a team, the Rays struck out 11 times and didn’t score a run.
In the Yankees’ half of the first inning, Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer that ended up being the game’s only scoring. Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Trevino, and Jon Berti each had two hits for New York’s offense.
Yankees Records & Stats
The Yankees are 26-14 overall and trail the Orioles by just a half-game for the AL East lead. New York is 7-7 against other AL East teams this year. The Yankees are on the road today, and they have been good at home (13-6) and on the road (13-8).
So far, the Yankees have been good as the favorite, going 19-10, and they are 7-4 as the underdog. New York has an overall series record of 9-2-1 and have won two straight series. Their overall record has been helped by going 7-3 over their last 10 games.
When betting the run line, the Yankees have been a better bet on the road than at home, going 12-9 on the run line away from the Bronx compared to 8-11 at home. They have been a better bet as the underdog, going 8-3 on the run line in those games compared to 12-17 when favored. Their average run margin in all games is +1.4, but that number jumps to +3.4 in their wins and falls to -2.4 in their losses.
With the over/under line set at 8 runs, the Yankees and Rays have combined for an average of 8.1 runs per game this season. The over/under record for the Yankees this season is 16-22, and their games have had an average over/under line of 8 runs. In games with an over/under line set at 8 runs, the Yankees have a record of 2-4. The over has hit in 72.5% of their games this season, but they are currently on a two-game under streak.
New York is sending left-hander Nestor Cortes to the mound today vs. the Rays. He has made a total of eight starts this year and has a record of 1-3 with an ERA of 3.72. Cortes’ WHIP for the season is currently 1.03. In his last outing, he went 6 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs, and finished with a no-decision. Looking back over his last three starts, Cortes has allowed at least one homer in each outing. So far, he has given up five homers this year. Cortes has a 4.0 quality starts this year.
So far this season, the Yankees have been one of the league’s best offenses, averaging 4.8 runs per game (11th) and batting a collective .250, which is the 6th best mark in the league. They have also been one of the league’s top home run hitting teams, as their 52 homers is the 3rd best mark in the league. New York is also near the top of the league in on-base percentage and slugging.
Over his last eight games, Aaron Judge has been hot, going 10/26 with three homers and seven RBIs. For the season, he is batting just .233, but his 25 RBIs are the 2nd best mark on the team. Juan Soto has been the team’s best hitter this season, with a batting average of .325 and a team-high 33 RBIs. He also leads the Yankees with nine homers.
Rays Records & Stats
The Rays are 19-20 overall this season, and they trail the Orioles by seven games for the AL East lead. Currently, they are 4th in the division, a half-game behind the Red Sox for 3rd place. Tampa Bay has dropped two straight games, and they lost the first game of this series vs. the Yankees.
At home, the Rays are 13-11 this year compared to a 6-9 mark on the road. As the favorite, Tampa Bay is 14-15 this year and 5-5 as the underdog. The Rays have won two straight series, and their overall series record is 5-5-2.
When the Tampa Bay Rays are the home team, they have a run line record of 9-15. Their average run margin at home is -0.5 runs per game. As the favorite, they have a run line record of 9-20. In their 15 wins, they have outscored their opponents by an average of 2.5 runs per game.
When the Rays play at home, the over/under line is set at 8 runs on average. Their games have averaged 8.7 runs per game this season, and their over/under record is 21-18. When the line is set at 8 runs, their over/under record is 7-3. Overall, 51.3% of their games have had over/under lines set above 8 runs, and their last three games have gone under the total.
Zack Littell gets the start for the Rays today and will be looking to build off his last outing, where he gave up just one earned run in six innings of work. In that outing vs. the Mets, he finished with a no-decision. Littell has made three quality starts this year and has a record of 1-2 with a 3.00 ERA. Looking at his home/road splits, Littell has an ERA of 3.44 at home compared to 2.29 on the road. For the season, he has allowed three homers and is averaging just 1.15 walks per nine innings.
Isaac Paredes has been one of the Rays’ top hitters this season, batting .293 with a team-high eight home runs. He is also 14th in the league with 20 RBIs. Paredes has also been swinging a hot bat of late, going 7/23 in his last seven games. Harold Ramirez has also been hot, going 10/24 in his last seven games.
As a team, the Rays are batting .244, which is 10th in the league, and they are averaging 3.9 runs per game. Their team on-base percentage is .313, and they have the 10th best batting average in the league. However, they are just 17th in home runs and have a team OPS of .674.