Rays vs. Yankees (June 16): Should another low-scoring showdown be expected at Yankee Stadium?

Tonight, New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino makes the 100th start of his MLB career as the Bronx Bombers look to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

If not for injuries that kept him out for all of the 2020 season and almost all of the 2019 and 2021 seasons, Severino would be closer to 200 than 100 by now. But now that he is healthy again, the 28-year-old righty is a key part of a rotation in which the highest ERA belongs to the biggest name in the quintet.

While the AL East leaders are looking for their seventh straight win and their 14th win in their last 15 games, the Rays are looking to salvage something after a second straight series loss in their three-series road trip.

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

Matchup Information

• Matchup: Tampa Bay Rays (35-27, 14-14 road, 3rd in the AL East) vs. New York Yankees (46-16, 28-7 home, 1st in the AL East)
• Venue & Location: Yankee Stadium (The Bronx, New York)
• Date: Thursday, June 16, 2022
• Game Time: 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time
• TV Broadcast/Streaming Info: MLB Network

Rays vs. Yankees Pitching Matchup

• Tampa Bay Rays: Jalen Beeks (2022: 16 appearances – one start, 1-1, 1.38 ERA)
• New York Yankees: Luis Severino (2022: 11 starts, 4-1, 2.80 ERA)

Rays vs. Yankees Odds

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

Moneyline

• Tampa Bay Rays +205
• New York Yankees -250

Over/Under

• OVER 7.5 (-115)
• UNDER 7.5 (-105)

Run Line

• Tampa Bay Rays +1.5 (+100)
• New York Yankees -1.5 (-120)

Soaring Severino Should Shine Again Against Tampa Bay

While Gerrit Cole–who, with a 3.33 ERA, has the worst ERA among the Yankees’ starting pitchers–and breakout star Nestor Cortes (6-2, 1.94 ERA) are two of the top AL Cy Young Award candidates, Severino is not in that mix.

But he’ll get himself into that conversation if he continues to pitch like he has thus far in June. Against the Tigers on June 4, he allowed just one hit and one walk and struck out ten in seven shutout innings. He followed that up six days later by allowing one run, seven hits, and one walk and striking out ten again in six innings.

Those two gems came after closing out May by allowing four runs in 6.1 innings in a 4-2 loss against the Rays at Tropicana Field on May 29.

Severino allowed only two hits and two walks and struck out eight in that outing, but the two hits he allowed were two homers, one of the walks brought in a run, and hitting the next batter brought in the fourth run and ended his day.

But that is a rare occurrence for Severino, as it was just the third time that he allowed more than two runs in 15 career appearances (11 starts) against Tampa Bay. For his career, he is 8-3 with a 3.33 ERA against the Rays.

There is not likely to be a repeat of that performance in tonight’s game, based on what the Rays have–or have not, rather–done against the Yankees this season. In six head-to-head matchups, that is the only game in which they managed to score four or more runs.

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

Rays vs. Yankees Prediction: Yankees to win

Rays vs. Yankees Best Bets: UNDER 7.5 (+105 at Bovada Sportsbook & MyBookie) & Rays team total under 3 runs (-120 at Bovada Sportsbook)

Scoring has been low for the most part between Tampa Bay and New York this season. There have been more than seven combined runs in only one head-to-head matchup so far in 2022, a 7-2 Yankees win at the Trop on May 26.

In each game, the losing team has scored three or fewer runs. With how Severino is pitching right now, backing the under with Tampa’s team total is the way to go here in addition to the under for the game.

Speaking of Severino, look for him to continue mowing down hitters with regularity. He has seven or more strikeouts in five of his last six starts. The Rays average over eight strikeouts per game, and as noted above, had eight strikeouts against Severino in the recent head-to-head matchup.

If you are confident that he will at least match that number tonight, you can back him to have 8+ strikeouts at +146 at BetOnline, while he is +560 to have double-digit strikeouts for the third straight start.

Other MLB Content Today on Betting News (Thursday, June 16)

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