New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays odds, picks and predictions

The New York Yankees (55-37) visit the Tampa Bay Rays (44-46) in the Tuesday opener of a 3-game AL East series in St. Petersburg. First pitch will be at 6:50 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Yankees vs. Rays odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

Season series: Yankees lead 4-2

New York is coming off losing a series at home to the Boston Red Sox 2-1 over the weekend. The Yankees are 1-5 across their last 6 games and are 0-6-1 in their last 7 series.

Tampa Bay struggled offensively in being swept in a 3-game weekend set at the Texas Rangers. The Rays scored just 5 runs in the series, including being shut out in the opener. For the season, Tampa Bay is tied for 25th out of the 30 MLB teams with 3.99 runs per game.

Yankees at Rays projected starters

LHP Carlos Rodon vs. RHP Ryan Pepiot

Rodon (9-6, 4.45 ERA) is lined up for his 19th start. He has a 1.24 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9 and 9.1 K/9 through 99 innings.

• Last outing: Loss, 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K in 3-2 home setback vs. Cincinnati Reds Wednesday
• Career vs. Rays: 0-2, 4.82 ERA (28 IP, 15 ER), 1.71 WHIP, 10.3 K/9 in 6 starts
• Last 4 starts: 0-4, 10.89 ERA (19 IP, 23 ER), 1.135 OPS allowed

Pepiot (4-5, 4.40 ERA) is making his 16th start. He has a 1.12 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9 and 9.9 K/9 through 75 2/3 innings.

• Last outing: Loss, 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 K in 4-2 loss at Kansas City Royals Wednesday
• Has gone 6 innings in just 2 of 9 starts since the beginning of May
• Has never faced the Yankees

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Yankees at Rays odds

Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook ; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 5:56 p.m. ET.

• Moneyline: Yankees -124 (bet $124 to win $100) | Rays +106 (bet $100 to win $106)
• Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Yankees -1.5 (+134) | Rays +1.5 (-162)
• Over/Under (O/U): 8 (O: -110 | U: -110)

Yankees at Rays picks and predictions

Prediction

Yankees 5, Rays 4

Moneyline

The Rays own a high-strikeout .636 OPS over their last 11 home games. Look for better results from Rodon, who has outpitched his statistical line of late.

Tampa Bay has been fortunate to be near-.500 on a runs-scored-and-allowed profile of 3.99 and 4.73.

TAKE YANKEES (- 124 ) in Tuesday’s series opener.

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Run line/Against the spread

Look for better relative value on the ML. AVOID .

Over/Under

The total has gone Over in 13 of Yankees’ last 17 games and in each of the ball club’s last 5 road tilts. The Over has also cashed in 5 of the last 6 New York-Tampa games played at Minute Maid.

Rodon is a lukewarm pick to be better than what shows in his recent game log, but the Rays do have a better offense against southpaws (.730 OPS), and per ESPN have an aggregate .948 OPS against the New York port-sider.

Pepiot has endured strike-zone problems and hard contact.

BACK OVER 8 (- 110 ).

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