Friday night baseball and we will see the Tampa Bay Rays take on the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, California. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally. Current Betting Odds, according to Sportsbook.ag, have New York listed as the favorite.
Current Odds
Tampa Bay +112
New York -121
Over/ Under: 9 U -115
Analysis: The Tampa Bay Rays are trying to build a winning streak at the expense of the New York Yankees. The Rays will be hoping to secure their first winning streak of three or more games since last month when they continue their series at Yankee Stadium tonight. Evan Longoria homered twice for Tampa Bay (38-35), a night after having three hits in a 6-2 win at Boston. The Rays have totaled 29 hits in the last two games after a 1-6 stretch during which they batted .200 and averaged 2.0 runs. Excluding a win in Miami against the majors' lowest-scoring team as he came within one out of a complete game, Hernandez is 0-4 with a 7.82 ERA in five starts on the road. The former Fausto Carmona has lost his last five starts versus the Yankees, posting an 11.32 ERA. The latest came May 24, when he was tagged for five runs in four innings of a 9-4 defeat. That's part of Hernandez's current stretch of failing to post a quality start in four of six outings overall. Tampa Bay is 4-3 in the season series, holding New York to a .202 average.
Baseball's worst offense of the past four weeks resides in the Bronx, where back-to-back poor hitting displays leave the Yankees looking to avoid a season-high third straight home loss. Missing Derek Jeter (ankle) and Alex Rodriguez (hip) all season, New York (39-33) learned Tuesday that Kevin Youkilis (back surgery) will be out 10-12 weeks and Mark Teixeira (wrist) was going back on the disabled list. While Teixeira has missed all but 15 games, Curtis Granderson (forearm, finger) has played only eight and returned to the DL on May 25.
Since that date, the Yankees have gone 9-15 while hitting .216 and scoring 71 runs - both lowest in the majors. New York was 30-18 before that slump greatly because a few newcomers in their mid-30s stepped up. However, Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay and Travis Hafner have cooled off significantly. After hitting .301 with 10 homers through May 15, Wells has batted .118 without a home run in 29 games. Wells, 6 for 59 in June, is appreciative manager Joe Girardi even keeps him in the lineup. Hafner has 11 homers but has batted .105 since Granderson's return to the DL. Overbay had eight home runs and 28 RBIs at that time but has since failed to go deep while driving in four runs. Phelps had a string of two straight strong starts come to an end last time out, when he was reached for four runs on nine hits in six innings to suffer a loss at Los Angeles. The 26-year-old right-hander had surrendered a total of one run on four hits in his two previous appearances. Phelps got the better of Hernandez in that May 24 meeting, allowing four runs on six hits in 7 2/3 innings to pull out the win.
Pick: Despite the Yankee offensive woes of late, I expect them to get back on track some vs Hernandez, who has struggled in his career vs the Yanks. Hernandez is 1-4 with a 5.72 ERA on the road, while the Yanks are 3-1 in Phelps 4 home starts. Phelps is 1-1 with a solid 2.50 ERA in his last 3 starts, so he is pitching well right now. I look for a bunceback game by the Yanks in this one.
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