New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/26/2022

Game Time: 6:40 pm ET, Thursday, May 26, 2022

Venue:  Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

Where to Watch:  MLB Network

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Yankees -120, Rays +100; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Yankees -125, Rays +105; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Yankees -120, Rays +100; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

 

New York Yankees:  30-13 (1st place, AL East)

Tampa Bay Rays:  25-17 (2nd place, AL East)

 

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New York Yankees:  6-4 last 10

Tampa Bay Rays:  6-4 last 10

 

 

 

The Yankees are coming into this game with a 30-13 record overall and they are 14-6 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They have lost 3 of their last 4 games but are coming into this one off of a win in their last game which snapped a 3 game losing streak that they were on. They just lost their 3-game series against the Chicago White Sox 2-1 and they are playing the series opener of a 4-game series with the Rays on Thursday. This will be the 1st game of the series on Thursday with the series finale of their series against the Baltimore Orioles still to be played on Wednesday. JP Sears is the starting pitcher for them on Wednesday while Nestor Cortes is on the mound for them here on Thursday. He is 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA this season. His team won 5 of their last 6 games this season with him starting. In his last start, he allowed 3 ER, 1 HR, and 0 BB with 7 Ks on 6 hits in 5 IP against the Chicago White Sox. They scored 11 runs in their last series averaging 5.5 runs scored per game in that span and they allowed 12 runs against them averaging 6 runs allowed per game with the final game of that series still to be played.

 

The Rays are coming into this game with a 25-17 record overall and they are 14-9 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They have won 2 of their last 3 games and are coming into this one off of a win in their last game. They just lost their 3-game series against the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 and they are playing the series opener of a 4-game series with the Yankees on Thursday. This will be the 1st game of the series on Thursday with the series finale of their series against the Miami Marlins still to be played on Wednesday. Drew Rasmussen is the starting pitcher for them on Wednesday while there is no probable pitcher yet on the mound for them here on Thursday. They scored 4 runs in their last series averaging 4 runs scored per game in that span and they allowed 0 runs against them averaging 0 runs allowed per game with the final game of that series still to be played.

 

The Rays are coming into this game playing much better in their recent games. They just lost a series against the Orioles but the 2 games they lost were both very close in score and the rays still scored 6 runs in both of those games. They have been hitting the ball well and scoring a lot of runs in their games recently but their pitching has also bounced back as well as they just shut out the Marlins in their first game of that series with them. They are going up against a Yankees team that is coming off of a win against the Orioles but that win came in the 11th inning and they lost the first game of that series to the Orioles as well. They also lost their series to the White Sox prior to that and have not been playing well recently as their pitching has been struggling. The Rays have played well against the Yankees in past seasons and both teams are hitting well right now so this game will come down to pitching here. The best bet here is on the Rays to win this game as they have been pitching much better in their recent games.

 

Yankees Rays Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Thursday, May 26, 2022 (6:40 pm ET start time) is Rays 5 Yankees 2.

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New York Yankees: 159-114 (-12.8 Units) ML in all games. 74-60 (-8.9 Units) ML in road games. NESTOR CORTES is 16-7 UNDER in all games.

Tampa Bay Rays: 177-111 (+37.8 Units) ML in all games. 92-48 (+18.6 Units) ML in home games. 14-8 UNDER in home games.

 

 

New York Yankees:  J. Donaldson (3B) Out indefinitely - Illness. K. Higashioka (C) Out indefinitely - Illness. J. Gallo (LF) Out indefinitely - Illness.

Tampa Bay Rays:  Y. Diaz (3B) Ques Wed - Shoulder. M. Margot (CF) Prob Wed - Hamstring. B. Lowe (2B) Mid June - Back.

 

 

 

"That was a cool moment for him to really earn those pinstripes. It's incredible. It's something you can't explain." Isiah Kiner-Falefa on scoring the game winning run after their win against the Orioles on Tuesday.

 

 

"It's a fun way to start off the game. You never know what to expect in a baseball game, and the first pitch of the game for us is an inside-the-parker. And since we have the best pitcher in the league, that's all we needed. One run." - Kevin Kiermaier after their win against the Marlins on Tuesday.

 

 

 

Aaron Hicks (S) CF

Aaron Judge (R) RF

Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B

Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH

Gleyber Torres (R) 2B

Miguel Andujar (R) LF

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) SS

Marwin Gonzalez (S) 3B

Jose Trevino (R) C

 

Kevin Kiermaier (L) CF

Wander Franco (S) SS

Randy Arozarena (R) LF

Ji-Man Choi (L) 1B

Harold Ramirez (R) DH

Brett Phillips (L) RF

Isaac Paredes (R) 3B

Taylor Walls (S) 2B

Mike Zunino (R) C

 

 

Batting Average:  Rob Brantly (.333)

Hits:  Aaron Judge (49)

Home Runs:  Aaron Judge (17)

RBI:  Giancarlo Stanton (35)

Stolen Bases:  Aaron Hicks (5)

Wins:  Clay Holmes (4)

Saves:  Aroldis Chapman (9)

ERA:  JP Sears (0.00)

 

Batting Average:  Manuel Margot (.348)

Hits:  Randy Arozarena (42)

Home Runs:  Kevin Kiermaier (6)

RBI:  Manuel Margot (21)

Stolen Bases:  Randy Arozarena (7)

Wins:  Drew Rasmussen (4)

Saves:  Andrew Kittredge (5)

ERA:  J.P. Feyereisen (0.00)

 

Managers:

New York Yankees: Aaron Boone (5th season)

Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash (8th season)