MLB Odds: Baseball’s Two Best Teams Meet as Yankees Visit Rays

Friday, July 30, 2010

by Bodog Sportsbook

Easily the baseball series of the weekend is in St. Petersburg, Fla., as the New York Yankees visit Tampa Bay Rays with the two clubs holding the two best records in baseball and the Yanks holding a two-game lead in the AL East. New York is a slight -107 favorite for tonight’s opener on Bodog’s MLB odds.

Tampa Bay is the hotter team, having won six games in a row and just sweeping the Tigers. The Rays could retake first in the division with a sweep, a spot New York has held since June 20 – New York is 23-10 since that date while Tampa Bay is 21-12. The Rays are likely to be missing two regulars tonight as both Ben Zobrist and B.J. Upton are nursing injuries and neither started Thursday. Upton is likely to return sooner than Zobrist and could pinch-hit tonight.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez remains stuck on 599 career homers – he has now gone 30 at-bats (34 plate appearances) since hitting No. 599. A-Rod was 3-for-17 in the four-game series in Cleveland. It took him eight days to get from 499 to 500, and Friday will be the eighth day he goes for 600. This also will be the Yankees’ first trip to the Tampa Bay area since owner George Steinbrenner, who lived in Tampa, died July 13.

The Rays start rookie Wade Davis (8-9, 4.32) tonight. He has a 2.11 ERA in winning his last three starts and is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA in two starts against New York this year. A-Rod is 4-for-8 with two homers in his career vs. Davis. The Yankees start Phil Hughes (12-3, 4.04). He has made seven appearances — two starts — against the Rays in his career, going 2-1 with a 4.20 ERA.

Tonight’s game will be a rare sellout at Tropicana Field (all three games are) and Tampa Bay is 35-11 at home in front of crowds of 30,000-plus since 2008. These two teams have split eight games this season and won’t meet again after this series until Sept. 13.

Get your Yankees-Rays odds and props at Bodog Sportsbook