New York Yankees (19-13) vs Tampa Bay Rays (14-17)
Game Info: Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 1:05 pm (Yankee Stadium)
The Line: Betting Odds: New York Yankees -180 / Tampa Bay Rays +150 — Over/Under: 9.5
The Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees meet Saturday in MLB action from Yankee Stadium. This will be the second installment in a three-game weekend series. Here’s a Rays vs Yankees prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Rays vs Yankees pick. We will examine:
The Tampa Bay Rays’ recent form and player performance
The New York Yankees’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Tampa Bay Rays
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the New York Yankees
Recent betting trends in games played between the Rays and Yankees
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Rays vs Yankees game
Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview
The Rays bagged victories in their first two sets of the season over the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates. Following a sweep thanks to the Texas Rangers and a loss in a set versus the Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay got a series win against the Braves. Tampa Bay would fall in two of three games against the rival Red Sox and in three of four games against the rival Yankees in the next two sets, though. The Rays got a series win over the Diamondbacks from there, then swept the Padres. Tampa Bay lost 3-1 and 3-0 in their first two games versus the Royals this week, then in the finale, the Rays took yet another loss, getting out-hit 15-8 on the way to an 8-2 defeat.
On Friday versus the Yankees, Tampa Bay took a 3-0 shutout loss, posting just one hit along the way.
Starter for Saturday will be the Rays’ Zack Littell. This year, Littell is 1-5 with a 5.03 ERA in six starts over 34.0 innings. Littell is 25-26 with a 4.00 ERA in 208 career games (53 starts).
New York Yankees Betting Preview
Over on the Yankees’ side, they bagged a sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers in their first set of the season. New York lost the next set versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, then won two of three versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Defeats thanks to to the Tigers and Giants came during the next two sets before a sweep versus the Royals and a series victory in Tampa Bay. Following a series loss to the Guardians, New York bagged wins in two of three over the Blue Jays. The Yankees split their first two games versus the Orioles this week, then dropped the series with a 5-4 defeat on Wednesday.
In Friday’s matchup, New York got 7.0 innings, two walks, and one hit from starter Max Fried in the shutout victory.
Clarke Schmidt will start for the Yankees on Saturday. This year, Schmidt is 0-1 with a 5.52 ERA in three starts over 14.2 innings. Schmidt is 19-21 with a 4.02 career ERA over 86 games (52 starts) total.
Why the New York Yankees will win
- The Rays have lost nine of their last 10 road games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
- The Yankees have won seven of their last eight home games against teams that held a losing record.
- The Rays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last four games.
- The Yankees have covered the run line in five of their last six games against American League opponents.
- The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in nine of their last 10 games against American League opponents.
- The Rays have trailed after 3 innings in five of their last six day games against American League opponents.
- The Rays have lost the first inning in three of their last four day games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win
- The Rays have won each of their last six games as road underdogs against AL East opponents following a road loss.
- The Yankees have lost four of their last five games as favorites against the Rays following a win.
- The Rays have covered the run line in each of their last eight games as underdogs against AL East opponents following a road loss.
- The Yankees have failed to cover the run line in 11 of their last 12 home games against AL East opponents following a win.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Rays’ last four road games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Six of the Yankees’ last seven games as home favorites have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last six day games.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last four day games against American League opponents.
Rays vs Yankees Prediction
I’ll go with the Rays here, but I’m probably staying away in reality. Both starters have been a little sketchy lately. Littell is coming off a win with two earned in 5.1 innings over the Padres. That said, he went 0-2 in his prior two starts—but didn’t pitch too badly on four earned over 12.0 combined innings. As for Schmidt, he’s coming off a solid no-decision versus the Jays with one earned in 5.0 innings. Schmidt went 0-1 with eight earned runs in 9.2 innings combined over his prior two starts, though.
Tampa Bay notched just one hit (to New York’s six) in the Friday loss, but the Rays had only one bad inning in the field. This series should be fairly close in the end.