Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees Betting Preview/Prop Picks

AL East rivals are set to meet up on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium to wrap up a three-game series as the New York Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays. New York has won each of the first two games and will be looking to pick up an impressive sweep over Tampa Bay.

The Rays come into this game with an overall record of 35-27, and they are now in third place in the AL East Division. Tampa Bay has now lost four of its last five games, and they have to find a way to get back on track. 

New York comes into this game with the best record in baseball at 46-16, and they actually appear to be getting better as the year has moved on. The Yankees are a remarkable 28-7 at home this season, and that ballpark was built for this lineup. 

The New York Yankees are big moneyline betting favorites at -267 over the Tampa Bay Rays in this AL East showdown. 

Rays Have to Pitch Well

If the Tampa Bay Rays are going to salvage a game in this series, then they are going to have to get a great pitching performance from the entire staff. Jalen Beeks will make the start on Thursday night, but this is going to turn into a bullpen game for the Rays.

Tampa Bay has done a solid job of holding down the Yankees in this series as they have allowed just six total runs. The Rays have pitched well enough to win, but the offense just hasn’t been able to put any big innings together. 

The Rays have an on-base percentage of just .296 this season, and they have only hit 58 home runs. There are some big names in this lineup, but they just aren’t producing. 

Yankees Pounding the Baseball

The New York Yankees have now hit the century mark for home runs on the season, and they just continue to hit the ball out of the park. Aaron Judge leads all of baseball with 25 home runs, and he looks to be on his way to an MVP award. 

Not only are the Yankees the best offense in baseball, but the pitching staff has been dominant as well. The Yankees have a team ERA of just 2.81 on the season, and it’s hard to score on this team.

Luis Severino will make the start on Thursday night, and he is 4-1 with a 2.80 ERA this season. 

Yankees Sweep the Rays

The first two games in this series have been close, but don’t expect that to happen in the series finale. This starting pitching matchup favors the Yankees in a big way, and that offense is going to have another big performance. 

Nothing seems to be stopping the Yankees at this time, and Tampa Bay just doesn’t have the offense to keep up in this game. New York is going to cool off at some point, but they are absolutely pounding the baseball so far this season. 

Getting swept in New York is not what the Rays had in mind, but they won’t be able to do anything to stop it. Bet the New York Yankees -2.5 as they pick up a blowout win over the Tampa Bay Rays to complete the three-game sweep in this AL East matchup.

Prop Picks

NY Yankees (-120) OVER 4.5 Runs

New York is averaging 5.03 runs per 9 innings on offense, which ranks No. 3 in the league, while posting a team OPS of .763, which ranks No. 1. Scores have gone OVER in five of the Yankees’ last seven Thursday games.

With Dunkel predicting a New York victory by the score of 6-4, take the Yankees (-120) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 4.5 runs against Tampa Bay.

Luis Severino (+100) To Record A Win

Severino has a 4-1 record in 11 games started this season. The righthander has a 3-0 record in seven games started at home.

With Dunkel predicting a Yankees home victory, take Severino (+100) to record the win against the Rays.

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All Media on this page by Associated Press.