The New York Yankees (42-37 SU, -2.09 Units) won the first five games they played this year against the Tampa Bay Rays (42-39 SU, +1.73 Units).
With as badly as the Rays have played of late, there might be a real opportunity to help put some space between the Bronx Bombers and their division rivals to the south, including on Saturday afternoon in the Big Apple.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Michael Pineda has loved pitching against the Rays in his career. He has a 3.22 ERA in 36.1 innings of work, and he has baffled their hitters to the tune of a .246 average.
The good news for Pineda is that he has been excellent all season long when he is facing batters for the first time in games. It's that second trip around the lineup where live bettors need to have their ears perked up in this one.
Two starts ago, the Phillies scored a combined seven runs in the third and fourth innings against Pineda after he had a relatively successful first go around through their lineup. The Orioles did the same sort of thing against him four starts ago as well, scoring four runs on Pineda in the third.
In fact, there has only been one time in his last five starts in which Pineda got through lineup the second time without allowing at least one run, something to keep in mind in the third and fourth innings in live betting.
You might look at Nathan Karns and see nothing special. Karns, after all, has never thrown more than seven innings in a game in his career, has never pitched more than six straight shutout innings and isn't dominant in terms of strikeouts.
What he is though, is consistent. The righty hasn't allowed more than four earned runs in any start since April 22. Kevin Cash deserves a lot of credit for having faith in this young man, and that faith is being rewarded. Karns has allowed just four runs in his last four starts, though he hasn't pitched longer than six innings in any of those outings.
New York has its work cut out for it scraping runs together in this one.
ADVANCED STATS
These two teams couldn't be possibly be any more polar opposite in terms of how they are hitting the ball right now.
The Rays feel like they could hit their way out of a wet paper bag. They're batting just .232 as a team in the last month, but what's more concerning is their lack of patience at the plate. They have a walk rate of just 6.5 percent alongside a strikeout rate of 22.2 percent, and their ISO of .128 shows no power whatsoever.
The Yankees meanwhile, are really destroying the baseball. They have an ISO of .186 and a team slugging percentage of .464 in this stretch of 30 days. According to FanGraphs, they have an offensive rating of 28.5 as a team, tied with Toronto for the best mark in the game in that stretch.
TALKING BULLPENS
The Yankees have a 3.42 bullpen ERA this season, but clearly, they are missing something without their closer, Andrew Miller. It's not in the ninth inning that they are struggling so badly, though. Dellin Betances has done a nice job finishing off games and is still one of the most effective relievers in baseball.
It's the rest of that bullpen that bettors should be watching out for. Sure, the Rays haven't been hitting, but they have a history of being a rather clutch team, especially when playing from behind.
New York's relievers, if you take out Betances, have a 5.11 ERA since Miller went on the disabled list a couple weeks ago. Clearly, that sets up for some heartache when it comes to the middling innings, especially knowing that Pineda probably isn't going all that deep in this one after he threw a complete game in his last start.
The MLB odds for this game will be available first at BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker's live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
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