The top two teams in the AL East meet up in the May 28th Yankees at Rays betting matchup. New York has pushed their lead to 6.5 games in the division after taking the first two contests in this series, 7-2 on Thursday at -112 and 2-0 on Friday as +123 underdogs. The Yankees are -140 favorites with Gerrit Cole up in the rotation on Saturday night.
Tampa Bay had won 5 of their previous 7 games heading into this weekend series, but now they’re just trying to salvage a game as +120 underdogs. This is the first series of the season between these two inter-division foes, with the Rays going 11-8 head to head in 2021.
Yankees Chugging Along
New York has put a three game losing streak behind them by rattling off four straight wins. The Yankees are now 33-13 on the year, which is the best mark in baseball. That includes a 16-6 road record and wins in 10 of their last 11 road games against a RH starter.
Gleyber Torres and Matt Carpenter both hit HRs in Friday’s 2-0 win. Carpenter was just signed prior to the series opener and he’s already scored 3 runs in his first two games with the club. The Yankees only have 6 hits in each of the first two games of this series, but have managed to parlay that into 9 runs.
Pitching has been the main story for the Yankees so far this weekend, something they hope continues with Cole (4-1, 3.31 ERA) on the hill. Nestor Cortes threw 8.0 IP while allowing just 1 ER on Thursday and Jameson Taillon followed that up with 8.0 IP of 2-hit ball on Friday. Cole struggled in his last start against Baltimore allowing 5 ER, but he did throw 8 innings.
Rays Try to Get Bats Going
Tampa Bay pitching has only allowed 12 New York hits through two games this weekend, the big problem is that the Rays only have 8 of their own. Manuel Margot has been the bright side of this offense through two games, going 3-7 while extending his hitting streak to 14 games and upping his average to .353 on the year.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay runs may be hard to come by in the May 28th Yankees at Rays betting matchup. Oddsmakers have the run total at just 6.5, but Tampa Bay hits .272 as a team (36 for 132) vs. Cole. Yandy Diaz is 10-24 (.417) vs. Cole while Ji-Man Choi is 8-14 (.571).
Corey Kluber (1-2, 4.42 ERA) faces the Yankees on Saturday night, a team he made 16 starts with in 2021 (5-3, 3.83 ERA). Kluber has allowed 2 ER or less in 4 of his last 5 starts, but he did give up 8 ER to the Angels on May 11th so the big game is out there. Kluber would also be wise to avoid Marwin Gonzalez, who is 10-22 with 2 HR against him in his career.
Free May 28th Yankees at Rays Betting Pick
66% of the betting public are on New York in Saturday’s matchup which isn’t a bad bet with Cole on the mound. The right-hander was just 1-3 with a 5.31 ERA in four starts vs. the Rays last season however. Kluber has been fairly solid this year for Tampa Bay and the value is on his side.
Free Pick: Rays +120
