Rays vs. Yankees Series Betting Trends July 19-21, 2024

• These teams are mostly alternating wins and losses in recent meetings.
• Neither club has played up to expectations of late as the Yankees, in particular, have gone on a downward spiral.
• Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was scheduled to start on Friday.
• Yankees will start Nestor Cortes with the Rays Yandy Diaz having had his way with Cortes.

These teams have split wins and losses over the last ten meetings.

The Rays have won half of their last ten games overall and own a record that sits at the .500 mark.  New York owns the better record but the team has fizzled in recent weeks.

Rays vs. Yankees Power Rankings

ESPN's final power ranking checks on these teams before the break:

Tampa Bay Rays (Ranking: No. 20)

"In a lineup featuring Yandy Diaz, the reigning AL batting champion, and Randy Arozarena, it's been Isaac Paredes leading the offensive charge for the Rays. The third baseman was Tampa Bay's lone representative at the All-Star Game, and deservedly so. Paredes is batting .265 with a team-leading 15 home runs and .830 OPS. His emergence represents another win for the Rays' front office, which acquired him and a draft pick from the Tigers for outfielder Austin Meadows before the start of the 2022 season."

New York Yankees (Ranking: No. 5)

"Aaron Judge and Juan Soto were named All-Star Game starters last week, with Judge leading all vote-getters. Duh. Clay Holmes was named the Yankees' third All-Star on Sunday, as chosen by league officials. Huh? Holmes was unequivocally one of the best closers in baseball until the middle of June. He didn't allow an earned run in his first 20 appearances. But he has given up nine runs, eight earned, and blown two saves over his past seven outings, a stretch that mirrors the Yankees' recent nosedive. It would've made more sense for the players to have voted in Holmes, but for the league to choose him over other more worthy relievers when the Yankees already had two representatives was a surprise."

Rays Pitching

Zach Eflin (5-6, 3.99 ERA)

Eflin has allowed 16 RBIs and 5 home runs in 129 at bats versus this Yankees roster. 

Eflin was charged with two runs (one earned) over seven innings on Wednesday in a loss to the Yankees when they met on July 10.  He allowed six runs (five earned) in five innings and got the win in the Rays’ 10-8 victory over the Royals his prior start.

Taj Bradley (4-4, 2.90 ERA)

The total could be low enough here as none of the last five games Bradley has started in have resulted in more than 7 runs being scored.  The total in this series tends to fall between 8 and 8.5 with half of the last ten resulting in a total of 9 or higher.

Yankees Pitching

Gerrit Cole (2-1, 5.40 ERA)

Cole had one lousy start with his return from injury but has been mostly stellar since (maybe not so much against Boston).  The Rays are .207 against him in 193 at bats.  He's allowed just six homers over that time. Cole pitched six innings of one-run ball and fanned seven in taking down the Orioles on Friday.

Nestor Cortes (4-8, 3.67 ERA)

In 135 at bats, Cortes has permitted 11 home runs when facing this Rays group. Yandy Diaz is 14 for 23 against him with 3 home runs and 8 RBI's (.424)

An Over might be a consideration for Saturday's game.