Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees Betting Odds
Opening Moneyline: Rays +130 / Yankees -150 O/U 9 runs
Time: 7:05 PM EST Thursday May 20, 2010
Tonight in an AL East match up in the Big Apple the New York Yankees host the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa beat the Yankees last night and they not only have the best record in the Majors, but they also have the most road wins. The Yankees are in a little slump, as they have lost 2 in a row, are 4-6 in their last 10 games, and are in 2nd place in the AL East 4 games back of Tampa Bay. The Rays have won 5 straight and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.
This season the Yankees are 13-5 at home and the Rays are 16-4 on the road.
The Rays won Game 1 of this 2 game series 10-6 last night, which snapped their 6 game losing streak in New York.
On the hill for the Rays tonight is James Shields (4-1 3.00), who was solid in his last start giving up 2 earned runs in 8 innings, but got a no decision. On the hill tonight for the Yankees is Andy Pettit (5-0 1.79 ERA), who in his last outing went 6 innings giving up 0 earned runs in a win.
Tonight Pettit will try to do something he has never done in his likely Hall of Fame career, which is to start a season 6-0.
Pettit is 16-5 with a 3.88 ERA in 28 career starts against the Rays, but is only 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA in has last 8 starts against them.
Shields is 1-7 with a 5.76 ERA in 10 career starts against the Yankees.
Dating back to last season Tampa is 1-5 in Shields' last 6 starts against teams with a winning record and New York is 20-6 in Pettitte's last 26 starts.
The Yankees will have to get to a Rays' pitching staff that has given up the fewest runs in the AL.
Tampa slugger Evan Longoria (.329 9 HR 37 RBI), who leads the AL in RBI's and ranks in the top 10 in batting average and HR's, has struggled against Pettit with only 2 hits in 16 career at bats with 9 strikeouts.
The Yankees' pitching staff has been solid this season, but in the last 3 games New York has given up 26 runs.
Betting Trends
Tampa Bay is 6-1 in their last 7 road games against a left-handed starter, 7-0 in their last 7 games as a road underdog, and has an Under record of 13-3-2 in their last 18 games.
New York is 1-5 in their last 6 after scoring 5 runs or more in their previous game and has an Over record of 5-2 in their last 7 home games.
In the last 5 games between these 2 teams the total has gone Over every time.
Our Selection : The Rays are an incredible 16-4 on the road and the visitor has won 3 of the 4 in the series this season. However, the Rays have not hit lefthanders well in 2010 and TB pitcher J. Shields is 1-9 vs. the Yankees in his last 10. Toss in the fact that New York has won every start that Pettitte has made this season and the Yanks aren't actually an easy mark at home (15-5) has me putting my green backs on the home side. Take the NY Yankees -1.5 runs +140 at 5Dimes.
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