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Carrie Stroup here with your Rays vs. Yankees betting line for April 28 courtesy of our friends at Sportsbook.ag.
TAMPA BAY RAYS (11-9) at NEW YORK YANKEES (12-8)
Sportsbook.ag Line: New York -105, Tampa Bay -105, Total:
Tampa Bay and New York meet for their second game of this series as the Rays attempt to defeat the Yankees for the first time in five tries this year.
The Rays have been great against everyone they’ve played besides the Yanks this year, going 11-5 when facing all other clubs and winning each of their last four series’ that weren’t against this New York group. Before heading to the Bronx for this three-game set, they rattled off five straight victories against both the Red Sox and Blue Jays, outscoring them 30-12 in that stretch. They once again fell victim to the Yankees on Monday night, struggling to get any offense going in a 4-1 defeat. They had six hits in the contest with just one going for extra bases as they went 0-for-7 with RISP. With 13 hits in his last six games (.565), 3B Evan Longoria (.318) has been finding his stride, but was a mere 1-for-9 in the first set against New York.
The Yankees have been on a tear over the last few weeks, winning nine of their last 11 games as they’ve allowed more than four runs just once in that time. The pitching has given up a meager 1.8 runs per game over the last five victories and they were once again impressive in Monday’s series opening victory against this Tampa Bay team. As a group they combined to post a 10:1 K/BB ratio and the relievers allowed one hit in 3.1 frames while the offense backed them with four extra-base hits. OF Brett Gardner (.316) was a big part of the win as he put up his fourth multi-hit showing in his last six contests.
The pitching matchup for this divisional battle will have RHP Jake Odorizzi (2-1, 1.65 ERA) looking to finally tame the Yankees as he goes against RHP Chase Whitley (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who is making his 2015 season debut. Even though it is a very small sample size, the Rays have showed some impressive performances on the road where they are 5-3 as they take on this New York team which is an even 5-5 at home. Overall since the start of the 2013 campaign, Tampa Bay has had the edge in this matchup, going 23-19 (13-7 on the road), but have not been able to get a win in four tries this year. The Yankees have put up 23 runs over those four victories as they are holding the Rays to just 2.0 runs per game.
Some trends to keep an eye on include that Tampa Bay is 10-3 after winning five or six of their last seven games in the past two seasons while they are a meager 75-81 (.481) when the total is seven to 8.5 in the same period. In injury news, OF Desmond Jennings (Knee) remains questionable as C John Jaso (Wrist) and SS Nick Franklin (Oblique) are on the 15-day DL for the Rays while New York has no significant omissions from its lineup.
Odorizzi has been one of the main reasons that this Rays club has been able to get off to a solid start as his team is 3-1 in his starts. All three of those wins were games that were vital. He has yet to allow a homer in his 27.1 innings on the mound and while his strikeouts (7.2 K.9) are down from last year (9.3 K.9), he has shown improved control (2.6 BB/9) and been able to force batters to hit the ball on the ground 42.3% of the time; a much improved mark from just 29.9% last year.
The Yankees have certainly been a burden for the 25-year-old as he is just 2-2 (2-3 team record) against them with a 5.54 ERA (1.42 WHIP) and had his only loss of 2015 when he gave up three runs on five hits over six innings in their last meeting. C Brian McCann will look to build on his second homer of the year on Monday night as he is an amazing 8-for-13 (.615) with a double, triple, two homers and six RBIs against the righty. Not everyone has done well, though, as OF Jacoby Ellsbury (3-for-14, 1 double), 3B Chase Headley (1-for-7, 2 K) and SS Stephen Drew (1-for-6) have all struggled.
Once crux for this Tampa Bay team has been its bullpen which is 5-3 with a 4.54 ERA (1.25 WHIP), but it is an impressive 9-for-10 in save chances. Brad Boxberger (2.16 ERA, 5 saves) has at least one strikeout in each of his nine outings and is a perfect 5-for-5 in his save opportunities.
Whitley has had limited experience in the major leagues and while his 5.23 ERA from his rookie season, when he played 24 games (12 starts), doesn’t look all that impressive, some secondary numbers suggest he will begin to improve with more time on the mound.
Batters hit an unsustainable .353 BABIP against him as he was solid with both his strikeouts (7.1 K/9) and control (2.1 BB/9). He did have some issues with the long ball, giving up 10 four-baggers in his 75.2 innings (1.19 HR/9). Whitley has had no problems in Triple-A so far this year and owns a 2.12 ERA (1.12 WHIP) over three starts (17 IP) as he has yet to give up a home run while leaving 79% of runners on base. In his limited time at the major league level, the 25-year-old has yet to face the Rays as a starter with SS Asdrubal Cabrera being the only batter on the opposing roster with a hit against him. He will need to be careful when facing this offense though, as they’ve actually been quite impressive in the power department, ranking 10th in the league with 19 balls leaving the park as OF Steven Souza Jr. (.254) leads the team with four of his own.
The relievers for the Yankees have been the most impressive factor to this hot start and their 1.77 ERA ranks second in the league as they’ve gone 5-2 with a 0.97 WHIP and saved 8-of-9 games. Andrew Miller (0.00 ERA, 8 saves) has been nearly flawless in his new role, going a perfect 8-for-8 in saves behind three hits allowed and a 17:4 K/BB ratio over 9.1 frames.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
