Yankees vs. Rays Prediction and Odds for Saturday, May 28 (Predicting Which Aging Ace gets the Job Done Today)

The saga of Gerrit Cole continues to see its ups and downs as the Yankees supposed ace continues to struggle. Things were going great for a while but Cole got hit hard by a bad Baltimore Orioles team on Monday night. He went eight innings but gave up five earned runs and eight hits. On a positive note, Cole struck out 11 and didn’t issue a walk. So, control is not his issue as much as he’s picking the wrong pitches and hanging breaking balls.

Cole gets a crack at the Tampa Bay Rays today in Game 3 of a four-game series between the AL East rivals. The Rays trail the first-place Yankees by 6.5 games and have already lost the first two games of this series. 

Here are the odds for this game, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook. 

Yankees vs. Rays Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

• Yankees: -1.5 (+125)
• Rays: +1.5 (-150)

Moneyline:

• Yankees: -133
• Rays: +123

Total:

• Total 7 (Over +110/Under -130)

Yankees vs. Rays Prediction and Pick 

The theme of this game could be former superstar pitchers who are struggling to keep it together in their 30s as Corey Kluber is the other starter today. The former 2x Cy Young Award winner is a shell of his former self with a 4.42 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 38 ⅔ innings. Kluber’s last disappointing start came at Camden Yards where he lasted just three innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He has an ERA of 6.00 in May after getting lit up by the Angels a few weeks ago and I don’t think he’s quite recovered from that. Kluber still gets strikeouts at a high rate but is giving up too many hits for me to trust him against such a powerhouse offense.

The Bronx Bombers are living up to that nickname and lead the MLB in home runs per game and rank ninth in runs. They rank 13th on average, but who cares when so many of their hits leave the ballpark.

This game boils down to which pitcher I trust less. And while that is a tough call, I have to fade Kluber here. Sure, Cole got knocked around by a bad team in his last game. But, it was his second consecutive game against the Orioles and that can be tricky for a pitcher to navigate. After a rough start, Cole looked pretty dominant for several weeks and I expect him to bounce back today as the Yankees go for a four-game sweep of Tampa Bay. 

Pick: Yankees -133 ML

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE