The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays continue a series this evening in Florida.
The Yankees will look to continue this newfound momentum, which we capitalized on with our best bet cash and +500 same-game parlay cash last night. We think that momentum could be halted this evening with a very different pitching matchup at hand.
My Rays vs. Yankees predictions break it down here as I bring you my MLB picks when the two teams meet on Wednesday, August 20th.
Yankees vs Rays prediction
Yankees vs Rays best bet: Rays moneyline — First five (-130)
There’s a decisive pitching mismatch here as the New York Yankees send Cam Schlittler to the mound, opposing the Tampa Bay Rays’ Drew Rasmussen.
In some ways, Rasmussen is the antithesis of what we talked about with Shane Baz last season. The heavy fastball approach is a similarity, yes, which is a concern for the reasons we hit on yesterday. However, unlike Baz, Rasmussen does a strong job of inducing weak contact, so the benefits outweigh the concerns. He’ll head into this game with one of the best barrel metrics in the sport as well as a chase rate that sits at nearly 30%. Limiting barreled balls is critical against the power bats of the Yankees, and he’ll be able to exploit a weakness of New York with the number of pitches they chase.
On the other side, I like the way this sets up for the Rays to get after the rookie pitcher opposing them. He’s almost exclusively some variety of fastball thrower, with the heater making up nearly 80% of his arsenal. This Rays lineup ranks just inside the top ten in various metrics when facing the heater, which gives me confidence that they’ll have success against the average stuff he’s shown this year — especially with the balmy conditions and hitter-friendly park.
Yankees vs Rays same-game parlay (SGP)
We took a homer in this spot last night and saw several of them. I don’t expect that to change this evening, but the shoe may be on the other foot. We’ll go with Brandon Lowe to go deep here as he boasts some impressive hard-hit metrics against both the fastball and cutter. He’ll also benefit from tonight's conditions in Tampa that should increase ball carry.
Yankees vs Rays odds
- Moneyline: New York +100 | Tampa Bay -120
- Run line: New York -1.5 (+164) | Tampa Bay +1.5 (-200)
- Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5
Yankees vs Rays trend
The New York Yankees have hit the Game Total Over in 27 of their last 42 games (+12.45 Units / 27% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Rays.
How to watch Yankees vs Rays and game info
| Location | George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL |
| Date | Wednesday, August 20, 2025 |
| First pitch | 7:35 p.m. ET |
| TV | YES, FDSNSUN |
| Yankees starting pitcher | Cam Schlittler (1-2, 3.94 ERA) |
| Rays starting pitcher | Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.60 ERA) |
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Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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