Fiscal accountability is always a hot topic in Major League Baseball. And never more than when the free-spending Yankees face the penny-pinching Rays. New York needs to win so it can prove money can buy happiness. Tampa Bay victories carry the torch for all the small-market, low-revenue clubs. The Yanks took round 1 winning two of three games earlier in the year.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Yankees used a six-game winning streak to get back to .500 for the first time since Apr. 14 when they were 4-4. Behind solid starting pitching and a rejuvenated offense, the Yankees climbed out of the cellar, though there’s still a long way to go before they enter the area of contender. We can say it’s still early in the season, but the Yankees are faced with an important stretch of games that could tell us plenty about them.
Their trip to Tampa is the first in a four-city, two-country trip that has the Yanks playing 10 games. They’re also at the beginning of a stretch that has them playing on 20 consecutive nights. A scheduled off-day on June 2 has been replaced with a makeup game in Detroit from an earlier postponement. That contest comes between visits to Toronto and Baltimore. It will be a busy run for the Yankees, who don’t return to their yard until a four-game set with the Halos starting on June 6.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Nathan Eovaldi (5-2, 3.95 ERA) allowed just two hits across six shutout innings in Tuesday’s 6-0 victory over the Blue Jays. The hard-throwing right-hander was in complete control with five strikeouts and three walks on 100 pitches. The hits allowed were singles as the Jays struggled to catch up with his premium velocity.
Eovaldi has lowered his ERA from 5.46 to 3.95 over his past four starts by allowing just six earned runs over 25 innings. He’s allowed 17 hits while fanning 19 in that span. He’ll also look for his first career victory over they Rays. He’s lost his only two starts against them with both defeats coming last season.
Jake Odorizzi (2-2, 3.46 ERA) blanked the Marlins on two hits over five innings on Tuesday to earn the win. He walked three and struck out seven needing 107 pitches to complete his turn. The high pitch count forced his early exit despite keeping Miami off the board. He’s now allowed two or fewer runs in five of his past six starts.
After going winless in his first eight turns, Odorizzi has now won back-to-back starts and will turn his attention to the Yankees, a team he has started against eight times in his nine lifetime appearances. Odorizzi has surrendered 10 homers to New York in his 48 innings, the most long-balls he’s allowed to any MLB team.
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The end result is what counts the most. And for about half the time this year, that’s been good for the Rays. But it’s how they got there that remains a cause for concern, a continuation of two related, troubling trends that will make future success unsustainable.
Tampa Bay starting pitchers are not working deep enough into games and that’s causing excessive wear on an already strained bullpen. Matt Andriese lasted six innings on Wednesday and departed with the game tied. In the previous game, Odorizzi lasted just five frames throwing 107 pitches in a scoreless outing. The trusted side of the pen has been overextended with closer Alex Colome recording his first six-out save on Tuesday. It was the third time in 19 appearances he tossed two innings and the fifth time he’s been called on to get more than three outs.
QUICK PICK
Eovaldi is challenging Masahiro Tanaka for the ace designation on the Yankees’ staff after a pair of exceptional outings that saw him give up just three hits and one run over 12 innings. And he wasn’t chucking to the San Diego Padres either. He was facing legitimate offensive clubs in Toronto and Arizona, and muzzled them.
But the Rays, even without Kevin Kiermaier and Logan Forsythe in the lineup, have managed to inflict some damage offensively. Tampa needs to score some runs early off Eovaldi to avoid facing the three-pronged death squad in New York’s bullpen. That’s easier said than done against a guy who’s dealing. The Yanks will have a tough time getting to Odorizzi, but will do enough to back their ace and the pen.
MLB Odds: New York 3, Tampa Bay 2
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