The New York Yankees have been bugged with injuries this season, but they remain a team to beat not only in the American League East but in the entire majors as well. They are +175 to win the 2019 World Series for a reason. The Tampa Bay Rays, however, are keeping things interesting in the AL East, as they are just hanging around the top spot of the division. They are +1000 to win the World Series and +750 to win the division.
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Game by Game Betting Preview for the New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays Regular-Season Series Running from July 4-7 2019
Where: Tropicana Field, Saint Petersburg
When:
Game 1 Thursday, July 4, 5:10 PM EST
Game 2 Friday, July 5, 7:10 PM EST
Game 3 Saturday, July 6, 4:10 PM EST
Game 4 Sunday, July 7, 1:10 PM EST
Line: Yankees vs. Rays – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
GAME 1
Pitching:
Starters: J.A. Happ (7-4, 5.23 ERA) vs.TBA
Happ must be so eager to return to the mound for a chance to bounce back from a terrible performance in a 9-4 home loss to the Houston Astros. In that game, Happ allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits across 4.0 innings. Prior to that, he surrendered just two earned runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings of a 6-3 home win over the Rays. Happ is 3-0 with a 4.05 ARA in seven road starts this year.
Hitting
The Yankees are fourth in the American League with a .266 batting average as of this writing.
Matt Duffy is 5-for-14 in career vs. Happ.
Prediction: Yankees win, 6-4.
GAME 2
Pitching:
Starters: Masahiro Tanaka (5-5, 3.74 ERA) vs. Brendan McKay (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Tanaka did not have a good performance in London last week, as he got charged with six earned runs on four hits in just 0.2 innings of mound duty against the Boston Red Sox. However, he avoided a loss, as the Yankees’ offense saved him in a 17-13 victory. Tanaka was way better in his last start against the Rays, when he pitched a complete-game shutout in a 3-0 home win on Jun. 17. McKay had a memorable debut late last June, when he took a perfect game into the sixth inning of a 5-2 win at home over the Texas Rangers. He finished with zero earned runs allowed on one hit.
Hitting
DJ LeMahieu is batting .353 against lefties this season as of this writing.
Tommy Pham is 4-for-15 in career vs. Tanaka.
Prediction: Yankees win, 4-2.
GAME 3
Pitching:
Starters: CC Sabathia (5-4, 4.04 ERA) vs. Blake Snell (5-7, 4.87 ERA)
Sabathia took a win in his last start when he allowed just two earned runs on six hits in 6.0 innings of duty in a 10-8 victory at home over the Toronto Blue Jays. Prior to that, he faced the Rays, limiting Tampa Bay to just a run in 6.0 innings of a masterful 12-1 win by the Yankees at home. Sabathia is just 1-3 with a 6.30 ERA in six road starts this year so far. Snell does not have a lot of fun stories to tell about his June, as he went 2-3 with a 9.64 ERA in six starts last month. He is 3-3 with a 3.32 ERA in eight home starts this season.
Hitting
DJ LeMahieu is 4-for-9 in career vs. Snell.
Matt Duffy is 5-for-9 with two RBIs in career vs. Sabathia.
Prediction: Yankees win, 5-4.
GAME 4
Pitching:
Starters: James Paxton (5-3, 4.34 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (8-2, 2.43 ERA)
After allowing just one earned run in a 401 home win over the Astros on Jun. 21, Paxton failed to build on his momentum, as he got shelled by the Toronto Blue Jays in his next start, wherein he got tagged for six earned runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings of action. He was saved by the Yankees’ bats, though, as New York still came away with an 8-7 home victory. Paxton is 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA in three career starts against the Rays. Morton is coming off a great June in which he went 2-2 with a solid 2.20 ERA across five starts. However, the Rays have gone 3-0 in his last three starts overall.
Hitting
Edwin Encarnacion is 3-for-8 with two homers in career vs. Morton.
Avisail Garcia is 3-for-5 in career vs. Paxton.
Prediction: Rays win, 5-3.
Writer’s Overall Series Prediction
Yankees win the series, 3 games to 1.
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