Rays vs. Yankees prediction and odds for Friday, May 12 (Gerrit Cole bounces back)

The Tampa Bay Rays are still far and away the best team in the MLB, however they showed signs of being human after dropping the final two of a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Now, they’re matched up with the New York Yankees for four games in the Bronx this weekend. 

In Game 2 of this AL East series, the Rays will send Josh Fleming to the mound to make his second start of the season. Fleming has made six appearances out of the bullpen since his last start back on April 4.

He has a 4.55 ERA over his eight total appearances, mostly as a long reliever. The Yankees will counter with Gerrit Cole making his ninth start of the season. Cole is 5-0 with a 2.09 ERA. 

Let’s get into the odds for this Friday night AL East showdown in New York. 

Rays vs. Yankees odds, run line and total

Rays vs Yankees prediction and pick

Gerrit Cole has only had one rough start this season and no surprise, it came against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was his most recent outing and he gave up six runs, five of them earned with eight hits over 5.0 innings. Prior to that start he hadn’t given up more than two earned runs in any start this year. For his career, Cole hasn’t necessarily struggled against the Rays, with just a 3.80 ERA in 16 starts. That’s not dominance, but the team certainly doesn’t have his number. 

However, this version of the Rays has every team’s number. Their lineup has been dominant all year, but the Yankees are starting to hit the ball much better, almost on Tampa’s level. In the past seven days leading up to this series, New York is actually No. 1 in team OPS while Tampa Bay is 12th. 

Gerrit Cole is having too good of a year to have back-to-back bad outings against the same team. The Rays continue to come back down to earth offensively, so I think I’m going to fade them. There is no way that they could have stayed on the torrid pace that set in April. 

Pick: Yanks Moneyline

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change