Yankees vs. Rays (June 20): AL Cy Young hopefuls square off in St. Pete

The Avalanche vs. Lightning matchup at Amalie Arena may be the headliner tonight in the Tampa area, but tonight’s showdown between the Yankees and Rays certainly deserves plenty of eyes as well.

In the series opener between the two AL East rivals, we get treated to a duel between two of the very best pitchers in baseball in Gerrit Cole and Shane McClanahan.

McClanahan has had anything but a sophomore slump after a solid rookie season last year and is the current AL Cy Young Award favorite, while Cole is fifth in line (at BetOnline) behind McClanahan, Justin Verlander, Alek Manoah, and Yankees teammate Nestor Cortes.

A win tonight could help give Cole a little boost in the Cy Young race, and it will also make the Yankees the first team to reach 50 wins this season.

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays Betting Odds and Matchup Information

Matchup Information

• Matchup: New York Yankees (49-17, 20-10 road, 1st in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (36-30, 21-13 home, 3rd in the AL East)
• Venue & Location: Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, Florida)
• Date: Monday, June 20, 2022
• Game Time: 7:10 p.m. Eastern Time
• TV Broadcast/Streaming Info: YES Network (Yankees), Bally Sports Sun (Rays), MLB Extra Innings/MLB.TV (subscription packages)

Yankees vs. Rays Pitching Matchup

• New York Yankees: Gerrit Cole (2022: 13 starts, 6-1, 3.33 ERA, 73 IP, 91 K/18 BB)
• Tampa Bay Rays: Shane McClanahan (2022: 13 starts, 7-3, 1.84 ERA. 78.1 IP, 105 K/15 BB)

Yankees vs. Rays Odds

Game odds are via BetOnline. Odds from our other top reviewed and recommended sportsbooks may also be included in this article.

Moneyline

• New York Yankees -130
• Tampa Bay Rays +110

Over/Under

• OVER 6.5 (-112)
• UNDER 6.5 (-108)

Run Line

• New York Yankees -1.5 (+146)
• Tampa Bay Rays +1.5 (-178)

Run Support a Major Question Mark as McClanahan Seeks Eighth Win

Last Wednesday, McClanahan made few mistakes against the Yankees, but the ones he did make proved to be costly.

In six innings, he gave up just three hits and two walks and struck out seven. But one hit he allowed was a solo homer by Aaron Judge in the first inning, and another was a three-run homer in the fifth by Kyle Higashioka in an inning that started with an error by center fielder Brett Phillips.

As a result, the 25-year-old lefty lost for the first time since an April 30 loss to the Minnesota Twins. But his numbers since that loss are still outstanding, even with Wednesday’s loss included.

Season Splits for Shane McClanahan (Tampa Bay Rays)

• First Five Starts: 1-2, 3.00 ERA, 27 IP, 20 H, 10 R (9 ER), 42 K/7 BB
• Last Eight Starts: 6-1, 1.23 ERA, 51.1 IP, 32 H, 11 R (7 ER), 63 K/8 BB

With only one of the four runs McClanahan allowed against the Yankees being an unearned run, his start went down as his seventh straight quality start and his ninth of the season.

At home, he has recorded five straight quality starts, and a sixth would give the Rays a chance to put a series loss in Baltimore behind them. But run support will ultimately decide their fate, and that’s where things get a little worrisome for the Rays, especially when their bats have to contend with Cole tonight.

In six games last week, the Rays scored 12 runs, and most of them came in Saturday’s 7-6 win over the Orioles. In the other games, they were shut out twice (once by Cole & the Yankees last Tuesday), scored one run twice, and tallied three runs (in McClanahan’s start last Wednesday).

So far in McClanahan’s short MLB career, the Rays have scored four or more runs in 21 of his 38 starts. Their record in those games? 20-1, with the lone loss an extra-inning loss to the Washington Nationals on June 9 last year.

But in the 17 games in which they scored fewer than four runs, the Rays have won just four times. So, it’s safe to say that if they are unable to do much at the plate tonight, it does not bode well for their chances of success.

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays Prediction and Best Bets

Yankees vs. Rays Prediction: Rays to win

Yankees vs. Rays Best Bets: Rays ML (+112 at BetUS), Yankees/Rays UNDER 6.5 (-108 at BetOnline) & Yankees team total UNDER 3 runs (+110 at Bovada Sportsbook)

Of Cole’s six road starts this season, the only loss for the Yankees came at Tropicana Field, a 3-1 setback on May 28. Cole certainly wasn’t at fault, as he held the Rays scoreless for five innings and allowed just one run, two hits, and three walks and struck out ten in six innings, with the Rays tallying a run apiece in the seventh and eighth to pull out the win.

Look for tonight’s matchup to be similarly low scoring and to have the same result. Last week’s offensive efforts against the Yankees and Orioles were pretty rough for the Rays, to put it mildly. And it’s not overly encouraging that they are a bit better on the road (4.16 runs per game) than at home (3.94 runs per game).

But with the AL Cy Young favorite on the mound, there is a lot of value in backing the Rays to pick up the win in tonight’s matchup.

McClanahan beat the Yankees at home last month and was outstanding when he did, allowing just one run and striking out seven in six innings in a 4-2 win on May 29, and even just two or three runs of support could be all he needs to get another W against the Bronx Bombers.