Tampa Bay (35-25) at NY Yankees (44-16)
When: Tuesday, June 14th 2022
Where: Yankee Stadium,
New York, NY
Time: 7:05 ET | TV: MLB.tv
Opening Odds: New York -181/7.5
The New York Yankees have been the best team in Baseball all season but will be tested over the next couple of weeks beginning Tuesday night at home. The Tampa Bay Rays will head to the Bronx to try and cool off the Yankees behind Corey Kluber. New York will counter with Gerrit Cole. After the three games with the Rays, the Yankees will head to second place Toronto for three games then to Tampa Bay to face the Rays again for three more. New York will return home and face the AL West-leading Houston Astros for a four-game set. Over the weekend, the Yankees demolished the Chicago Cubs, winning the last two games 8-0 and 18-4. Veteran Matt Carpenter, who has hit below .200 in each of his last two seasons, has been a sparkplug on offense. In Sunday’s win over the Cubs, Carpenter slammed two more home runs and drove in seven. He now has six home runs in his first 10 games as a Yankee.
The Rays avoided being swept for the first time this season with a 6-0 win at the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. That came on the heels of sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals last week and holding them to just six total runs in three games. The Rays pitching is fourth in the league in ERA (3.26) and fifth in WHIP (1.14). Tampa is 10 games over .500 but are sitting nine games behind the 44-16 Yankees. They are sitting four games clear of a wild card berth however and have had pretty good success recently in Yankee Stadium. Over the last two seasons, the Rays are 13-5 in New York including taking two of three in the final series last season. The Under has cashed in four of the last five meetings.
Pitchers: Rays – Corey Kluber (3-2, 3.88) | Yankees – Gerrit Cole (5-1, 3.63)
Kluber has already won his first two starts this month and help beat the Yankees on May 28. The four-time All Star held New York to one run on three hits in six innings, but he did not earn a decision in the 3-1 win. In nine career starts against New York, Kluber is 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA.
Cole was destroyed in his last outing by the Minnesota Twins on June 9. He lasted just 2. 1/3 innings and allowed eight hits, seven runs and five home runs, but the Yankees still came back and won 10-7. Cole is 1-6 in 12 career starts against the Rays with a 4.21 ERA.
The total for this game is 8 and the Yankees are averaging that alone in their last six games. Kluber has been decent this season, but the schedule has been favorable, while Cole is susceptible to the long ball. I say this game goes over.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free MLB Picks page for today.
Pick: OVER 8 -110
