Yankees vs. Rays: Picks, predictions, how to watch Thursday’s game

The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays square off on Thursday with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. New York will start Nestor Cortes (3-1, 1.80 ERA). The Tampa Bay starting pitcher is Ryan Yarbrough (0-0, 4.20 ERA).

New York (31-13) will go for their third consecutive victory and will go into Thursday’s matchup with the best record in baseball. Cortes is coming off his worst start but only allowed 3 runs in a victory over the Chicago White Sox in his last time out. The Yankees still average the most home runs per game, and Aaron Judge leads the league in homers.

Tampa Bay (26-17) will also go for three in a row in this matchup and is in second place in the American League East. Yarbrough made four appearances this season with three starts and allowed just 1 run over 4 innings in his last outing against the Baltimore Orioles. The Rays have an offense ranked in the middle of the pack in some of the major categories, and Manuel Margot returned from the injured list yesterday, going 1-for-3 against the Miami Marlins, and will go into this one with a .347 batting average.

Yankees vs. Rays

Pitchers: Nestor Cortes vs. Ryan Yarbrough
First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET
Yankees local broadcast: YES Network
Rays local broadcast: Bally Sports Sun
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run line: Yankees -1.5 (+145)
Run total: 7.5
Moneyline odds: Yankees -115, Rays -105

Moneyline pick: Yankees -115

New York has a lot of advantages in this matchup, and you would get a decent return with a winning bet. The Yankees have one of the top offenses in baseball, and Cortes has been fantastic over his first eight starts of 2022.

Player prop pick: Joey Gallo Under 0.5 hits (-115)

The Yankees outfielder returned for Wednesday’s game off the COVID-19 list, but he has gone a while without a hit. In his last four starts, Joey Gallo went 0-for-16 at the plate. He is not seeing the ball well right now, and there is value in expecting another hitless performance.

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