Yankees vs Rays Odds, Picks, and Probable Pitchers
- The New York Yankees are -140 road favorites at Tampa Bay as they face the Rays in an American League game on Thursday, July 29
- AL Cy Young Award favorite Gerrit Cole takes the mound for the Bronx Bombers
- New York is 7-1 straight up in its last eight games against a right-handed starting pitcher
The New York Yankees (53-47, 26-24 away) look to close out a three-game series at Tropicana Field on Thursday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays (60-42, 30-20 home) with their ace hurler on the bump and a swagger in their step.
New York suddenly has Tampa Bay’s number. The Yanks have won four of five games from the Rays and seven of the past ten. Prior to this stretch, Tampa Bay won eight of 10 from the Bronx Bombers.
New York opened as the -140 favorites to take another game from the Rays. The Yankees are 19-17 as an away favorite this season. Thursday’s first pitch at Tropicana Field is slated for 1:10 pm ET. The weather forecast is for clouds, 62 degrees and a 6 mph wind
Yankees vs Rays Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | -140 | +1.5 (-135) | O 7.5 (-110) |
| Tampa Bay Rays | +120 | -1.5 (+115) | U 7.5 (-110) |
Odds as of July 28th at DraftKings.
Gerrit Cole toes the rubber for New York in the series final as New York goes for the sweep. Luis Patino counters for Tampa Bay in this battle of right-handed pitchers. The Yankees have won seven of their last eight games when facing a right-handed starter.
Cole vs Patino
| 10-5 | Record | 1-2 |
| 2.74 | ERA | 5.26 |
| 2.92 | xERA | 3.65 |
| 0.96 | WHIP | 1.24 |
| 6.38 | SO/W Ratio | 3.50 |
Cole leads the AL in several statistical categories. These include wins (10), complete games (two), strikeouts (166), WHIP (0.96), strikeouts per nine innings (12.0), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.38).
Gerrit Cole, Painting with Flames. pic.twitter.com/mFhpgVjAKT
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 24, 2021
Cole also ranks among the top 10% in the AL in xERA (2.92), base-on-balls percentage (5.3) and xWOBA (.265). He’s among the top 7% in strikeout percentage (34.1). He’s allowed four runs across his past 20 innings pitched. However, three of those runs were surrendered in Cole’s last start against the Boston Red Sox.
Injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Chris Archer, coupled with the trade of Rich Hill, created an opening in the starting rotation for Patino. He was summoned from AAA Durham to face Cleveland on July 22.
https://twitter.com/SandyKazmir/status/1418182219470868481?s=20
Patino allowed four earned runs in 5.1 innings. Over his past two starts, he’s allowed 11 runs in 10.2 innings, nine of them earned. Patino is 0-2 as a starting pitcher this season.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Rays Batters | Batting Average vs Cole | Yankees Batters | Batting Average vs Patino |
|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Arozarena | .125 | Greg Allen | .000 |
| Ji–Man Cho | .667 | Estevan Florial | .000 |
| Nelson Cruz | .235 | Brett Gardner | .000 |
| Yandy Diaz | .381 | Kyle Higashioka | .000 |
| Wander Franco | .000 | Aaron Judge | .500 |
| Kevin Kiermaier | .235 | Ryan LaMarre | .000 |
| Brandon Lowe | .286 | DJ Lemahieu | .500 |
| Manuel Margot | .174 | Rougned Odor | .000 |
| Austin Meadows | .167 | Gary Sanchez | .000 |
| Francisco Mejia | .000 | Giancarlo Stanton | .000 |
| Brett Phillips | .250 | Gleyber Torres | .000 |
| Joey Wendle | .222 | Gio Urshela | .500 |
| Mike Zunino | .185 | Tyler Wade | .000 |
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is 1-for-2, a solo homer, against Patino. However, he was placed on the COVID IL on Tuesday and isn’t likely to be available for Thursday’s game. Yanks first baseman DJ LeMahieu and third baseman Gio Urshela are both 1-for-2 as well when facing Patino.
Ji-Man Choi's last two ABs:
☑️ Put last night's game away with a HR
☑️ Put us up early today with a HR pic.twitter.com/KBmtV7NPVl— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 24, 2021
Both of Tampa Bay’s first basemen give Cole fits. Yandy Diaz is batting .381 (8-for-21) off of Cole. He’s homered once and driven in four runs. But that’s nothing compared to the .667 of Ji-Man Choi. He’s 8-for-12 with three homers and eight RBI when standing in the batter’s box to fce Cole.
Yankees vs Rays Pick
The AL’s best pitcher against a guy just summoned from the minor leagues. On the surface, this one seems to be a slam dunk when it comes to picking the winner.
Except for the fact that Cole’s record is absolutely abysmal when facing Tampa Bay. He’s 1-5 all-time in 10 starts against the Rays with a 3.82 ERA.
Pissed off Gerrit Cole is my favorite Gerrit Cole. pic.twitter.com/ifzWMFUVPy
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 23, 2021
For the most part, though, other than that win-loss record, Cole’s numbers against Tampa Bay aren’t all that alarming. He shows a 1.14 WHIP and a 5.47 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Rays are batting just .226 off of Cole.
He’s struck of 93 in 61.1 innings pitched.
Pick: New York Yankees (-140)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
