Rays vs. Yankees Thursday Prediction
The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees will play the rubber match of their three-game series at 1:05 p.m. ET on Thursday. Is the betting total set too low for today’s matinee?
Game Snapshot & Odds
963 Tampa Bay Rays (+157) at 964 New York Yankees (-175); 8 runs
Thursday, August 16, 2018
1:05 p.m. ET, Yankee Stadium
TV: TB (FS SUN); NYY (YES)
Compare odds and from multiple different online sportsbooks and shop for the best lines at our new Baseball Odds & Betting Page.
Public Betting Trends
Oddsmakers from online sportsbooks currently list the Yankees as a -175 favorite. As of this writing, 62% of the betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks are on the Yankees to beat the Rays on the moneyline. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our MLB Public Betting Page for updated figures on this game.
Rays’ Snell fires five perfect innings in win over Blue Jays
Blake Snell was outstanding in Friday’s victory over the Blue Jays, racking up six strikeouts over five perfect innings. Snell had thrown just 47 pitches through his five dazzling innings, but Rays’ skipper Kevin Cash didn’t want to push him too far in just his second start back from the disabled list. While that’s understandable, he had thrown 59 pitches in his first outing back, so at least sending him back out there for the sixth inning seems like it would have been worthwhile. He’ll carry a brilliant 2.18 ERA and 1.03 WHIP into a difficult matchup against the Yankees in New York on Thursday.
Yankees’ Tanaka hit hard in loss to Rangers
Masahiro Tanaka was tagged for six runs while allowing three homers in five innings in a loss to the Rangers on Friday. Ronald Guzman hit two of the homers while Adrian Beltre slugged the other. Tanaka walked three and struck out two in the loss. Coming into Friday’s action, Tanaka had allowed six runs and three homers combined over five starts since returning from the disabled list. This was his first loss since way back on April 17. He’ll attempt to rebound when he brings a 4.08 ERA into a start against the Rays next week.
MLB Betting Trends
Tampa Bay
The Rays have won 12 of their last 15 games versus an opponent that owns a winning record.
New York
The Yankees are 61-22 in their last 83 home games despite losing last night to the Rays.
Prediction:
The under is a perfect 6-0 in the last six meetings between these two teams when the game is played at Yankee Stadium. The under is also 18-7-1 in the last 26 meetings between these two teams and is 3-1-1 in Snell’s last five starts versus the Yankees. Furthermore, the under is a perfect 5-0 in Snell’s last five starts overall and 7-0 in his last seven outings on the road.
The Pick: Rays/Yankees under 8