Rays at Yankees 7/15/19 - MLB Picks & Predictions

An AL East showdown will take place on Monday night, when the Tampa Bay Rays invade the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees. Tampa Bay has won five of their previous six games and are 15 games above .500 overall. On Sunday, the Rays took a perfect game into the ninth inning of a 4-1 road victory against Baltimore.

Reigning Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (5-7 4.70 ERA) has been unable to duplicate the magic of last season. Through 90 innings, Snell ranks 9th in the American League with 122 strikeouts and owns a 1.29 WHIP. The New York Yankees have won 33 of their 48 home games and are the favorites to represent the American League in the World Series. On Sunday, New York 3B Gio Urshela had two hits and drove in a pair of runs during a 4-2 home victory versus Toronto. SP Masahiro Tanaka allowed two runs over six innings to earn the win for the Yankees, who lead the Rays by six games for first place.

The Yankees will counter with hard-throwing southpaw James Paxton (5-4 4.10 ERA) in the series opener. Paxton is winless in his last three starts and has allowed nine runs over his last 16 plus innings of work.