New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole throws a pitch during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
The New York Yankees (33-13) have the best record in baseball as they go after a fifth straight win Saturday. The Yankees have a 6.5-game lead on second-place Tampa Bay Rays (26-19) after taking the first two games of the series. Saturday’s game starts at 4:10 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, airing locally in both markets.
The Yankees are 2-0 against the Rays this season, winning 7-2 on Thursday and 2-0 on Friday. The teams will meet 19 times this season, with six meetings coming in June. Last year the Rays won the season series 11-8 and also took the 2020 series 8-2 before knocking the Yankees out of the playoffs 3-2.
Yankees Pitching Lights Out
The Yankees turned things back around this week with four straight wins heading into Saturday’s contest. The Yankees are 16-6 on the road this season and 22-9 against RHP. They are 19-8 against the AL East, and the starting pitchers have allowed one earned run in 16 innings this series.
Offensively the Yankees won Friday with two solo homers in a 2-0 win. Gleyber Torres and newcomer Matt Carpenter both went deep as Jameson Taillon threw eight innings of two-hit, shutout baseball. In Thursday’s win, Aaron Judge drove in two runs while Anthony Rizzo had a RBI double, and Nestor Cortes allowed one run over eight innings.
Judge continues to deliver with a MLB-best 17 home runs, 36 RBI, and a .305 average. Rizzo has 11 homers and 27 RBI, while Giancarlo Stanton hit the injured list on Wednesday with a sore angle. DJ LeMahieu has also missed the first two games of the Rays series with a left wrist injury, while closer Aroldis Chapman went on IL this week with Achilles tendinitis.
RHP Gerrit Cole (4-1, 3.31) gets the Saturday start. He lost to Baltimore on Monday, allowing five runs on seven hits over eight innings and striking out 11. Cole has gone at least six innings in six straight starts, and he has 62 strikeouts on the season.
Cole went 1-3 against the Rays last season, allowing 20 hits and 14 earned runs over 24 ⅔ innings while striking out 39. Ji-Man Choi is 8-for-14 against Cole with three homers, while Yandy Diaz is 10-for-24 with a homer. Randy Arozarena is just 2-for-11, and Mike Zunino is 5-for-29 with a home run.
Rays Slow Start Against Yankees
The Rays have scored 11 runs in their last four games after scoring at least six runs in five straight games last week. Overall they are 15-11 at home and 19-15 against RHP. The Rays are 8-6 against the AL East this season and 9-6 in one-run games.
In this series, the Rays have just two runs on eight hits. Manuel Margot has three of the hits and the only non-single, as he doubled Thursday Arozarena had a single Friday, and Harold Ramirez had two hits in the opener. Isaac Paredes and Margot have the two RBI for Tampa in the series.
Margot leads the Rays with a .353 average on the season, but no other Tampa batter is above .290. Ramirez is hitting .287 with Choi at .267 and Diaz at .262. Kevin Kiermaier leads the Rays with six homers, one more than Brandon Lowe, and Margot has a team-best 22 RBI.
RHP Corey Kluber (1-2, 4.42) takes the mound for the Rays on Saturday. He lasted just three innings on Tuesday against Baltimore but took a no-decision, allowing two runs on five hits. The veteran hurler has gone at least six innings in three of his last five starts.
Kluber hasn’t faced the Yankees since July 12, 2018. Judge is 1-for-4 against Kluber while Carpenter is 2-for-5 with a home run, and Marwin Gonzalez is 10-for-22 with two homers. Joey Gallo’s only hit off Kluber in 10 at-bats is a home run, and Rizzo is 1-for-3.
Betting Analysis
- New York Yankees -1.5 (+125) Moneyline -140
- Tampa Bay Rays +1.5 (-145) Moneyline +120
- Total Runs: 7 Over -110, Under -110
Tampa’s offense is in a bit of a funk right now, thanks to some strong Yankees pitching. Look for Cole to keep that trend going, as he has been a strikeout machine lately. Kluber has been very hittable this season, allowing 42 hits in 38 innings and five homers. That’s not a good combination against this Yankees lineup.
Betting Pick: Yankees -1.5 (+125)
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