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These teams had split wins and losses over the previous ten meetings. After Friday, New York is 6-4 in the last ten games versus Tampa Bay.
The Rays had won half of their last ten games overall coming into this series and own a record that sits at the .500 mark. New York owns the better record but the team has fizzled in recent weeks.
Gerrit Cole worked 6 strong innings while Juan Soto went 4 for 4 Friday and the Yankees beat the Rays 6-1.
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."
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Rays Pitching
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.
Bradley has had limited exposure to this Yankees roster with 5 hits in 17 at bats. All five of those hits came courtesy of Alex Verdugo, who has not had the best season.
Yankees Pitching
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)
Nestor Cortes allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings and took the loss against the Rays his last start. That game resulted in nine runs scored.
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