Monday Baseball and we will see the Tampa Bay Rays take on the New York Yankees in game 1 of their 3 game series from the Bronx. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on ESPN.
Current Odds
Tampa Bay -102
New York -108
Over/ Under: 8 O -120
Analysis: The Tampa Bay Rays are not having a good year so far, but they did just take 3 of 4 in Baltimore, so maybe they are on the verge of turning it around. Still they are in last place in the AL East, a full 10 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rays come in ranked just 26th in the league in scoring (3.79 rpg), 17th in hitting (.249) and 22nd in homers (67). No a very good offensive team, but they did just score 19 runs combined in their last 2 games. The pitching for the Rays has been rather suspect, coming in ranked 19th in ERA (3.90), 13th in WHIP (1.26) and 27th in quality starts (34), but they do rank 1st in Ks (735). so all is not bad. Getting the ball for the Rays tonight will be Chris Archer, who is 4-5 with a 3.29 ERA on the year overall, while on the road he is 1-3 with a 4.06 ERA. Chris is 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in 4 career starts vs the Yanks.
The New York Yankees are having a decent year so far, as they are 41-39 and are just 2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yanks do come in struggling, as they have won just 2 of their last 8 games and that are just 18-20 at home this year. The Yankees are an average offensive team, as they rank 17th in scoring (4.04 rpg), 16th in hitting (.253) and 20th in homers (68). Pitching for the Yanks has been a bit below average, as they come in ranked 21st in ERA (4.02) and 15th in WHIP (1.28). Getting the ball for the Yanks will be David Phelps, who is 3-4 with a 4.35 ERA overall, while at home he is 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA. David is 2-0 with 2.82 ERA in 4 career starts vs the Rays.
Pick: I like the Rays in this spot. The Yanks are coming off an emotional series with the Red Sox, plus they are not playing all that well right now. The Rays have won 4 of their last 5 games and their offense is picking up as they have scored 5 or more runs in 7 of their last 9 games. Chris had a rough outing in his last starts, giving up 4 ER's to the Pirates, but in his previous 7 starts he had allowed a total of 4 ER's, so he has been pitching very well for most of the year. David has not been pitching all that well of late, compiling a 5.64 ERA in his last 5 starts, while the Yanks have gone just 3-7 in his last 10 starts. The Rays are 12-5 the last 17 in this series and I feel the have a solid edge on the mound and an offense that is waking up. Rays should take game 1 here.
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