The first game of the 2017 MLB season takes place Sunday afternoon with the Tampa Bay Rays playing host to the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. Sportsbooks opened the Rays as slight +106 underdogs with a total of 6.5.
- The Yankees are 1-4 in their last 5 road games.
- The Rays are 1-5 in their last 6 home games.
- The UNDER is 4-1 in the Yankees last 5 road games.
Masahiro Tanaka and Chris Archer will take the mound for the Yanks and Rays, respectively. Tanaka (14-4, 3.07 ERA in 2016) boasts a 3.12 ERA in his career and was 4-0 last season to improve to 6-0 overall versus the Rays. It’s the opposite story for Archer, who was 0-3 a year ago against New York despite holding hitters to a minuscule .190 batting average.
New York won 11 of the 19 meetings with Tampa Bay last season, but the Rays were 5-4 at home in the series. Yankees slugger Gary Sanchez went 9-of-31 with six home runs, seven walks and 13 RBI against the Rays.
Archer, who’s pitched at least 200 innings and struck out 200 in back-to-back seasons, had a 3.25 ERA after the All-Star break in 2016 after struggling to a 4.66 mark in the first half.
Sportsbook Odds & Computer Pick
Betting fans looking to pick the Tampa Bay Rays in this matchup found them as 106 underdogs on the MLB money line at Sportsbook. Betting the over under instead? It was 6.5 at its open earlier today and hovering near that number at Sportsbook.
Prediction-scoring formulas run on this game pick a potential 4.4-3.2 result in favor of the Yankees. View the computer score prediction and who will win the pick on the moneyline for all upcoming MLB matchups here.
New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
The Tampa Bay Rays bring a 68-94 record to the battle against the 84-78 Yankees. Stay Informed: follow us on Twitter for odds specials, betting line moves and Tampa Bay vs New York injuries news.
The Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings have the Tampa Bay Rays at No. 23 and the New York Yankees at No. 22 heading into this contest.
Statistical Matchup
At the plate, Tampa Bay owns the No. 27 ranking for hits at 8.23 per game. By contrast, the New York Yankees are rated No. 21 in the same category at 8.5 per game.
New York brings the No. 11-rated defense to this matchup, facing the Rays's No. 15-ranked defense.
Recent Outings Betting Recap
The Yankees endured a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Orioles on Sunday, with Luis Cessa throwing 5.2 innings of 5-hit ball at Yankee Stadium.
Tampa Bay won a close affair on Sunday in their last outing, defeating Texas 6-4 in extra innings at Globe Life Park.
- NY Yankees is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games
- NY Yankees is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
- NY Yankees is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
- NY Yankees is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
- Tampa Bay is 4-10 SU in its last 14 games
- Tampa Bay is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games at home
- The total has gone OVER in 9 of Tampa Bay's last 12 games at home
- Tampa Bay is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing NY Yankees
Next Betting Matchups
New York at Tampa Bay, Tuesday, April 4th
