The leaders in the American League and specifically the AL East open a four-game series tonight in St. Petersburg when the New York Yankees (49-40) take the field against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays (52-35). Tampa Bay enters the night holding a four-game lead over New York in the East and boasting one of the best home records in baseball at 31-12, while the Yankees arrive looking to halt a difficult stretch that has seen them lose 12 of their last 15 games.
Both clubs are coming off disappointing losses on Sunday. The Yankees were handled 6-1 by the Twins in the Bronx, continuing a rough weekend in which Minnesota scored 17 runs over the final two games of the series. New York has now dropped two straight and has struggled offensively of late, scoring just 41 runs during its recent 15-game slide. Tampa Bay was shut out 2-0 by Houston. Even with Sunday’s defeat, the Rays have won nine of their last eleven games.
The marquee attraction tonight is the favorite to win the Cy Young, New York’s Cam Schlittler (8-5, 2.08 ERA). He’ll take the mound opposite converted Rays’ starter Griffin Jax (4-5, 3.45 ERA). Schlittler enters the series leading American League starters in ERA while ranking among the league leaders in strikeouts. Through 104 innings, he owns a sparkling 0.96 WHIP and 123 strikeouts. Schlittler’s last start, however, was less than Cy Young-worthy. It was easily his worst of the season. Against Detroit last week, he was tagged for six runs including four home runs over just four innings in a 9-3 loss. For Tampa Bay, Jax has quietly been a dependable arm despite a 4-5 record. His 3.45 ERA and 1.27 WHIP reflect solid mid-rotation production, although the biggest concern has been the long ball; he has surrendered 11 homers in 60 innings. Oh by the way, the Yankees lead all of baseball with 128 home runs.
The Yankees’ primary issues during this recent but extended run of poor play have been hitting and defense. As noted earlier, they are averaging less than three runs per game over the past three weeks. Couple that with atrocious defense – 20 errors and 29 unearned runs over the last 15 games (most by a Yankees’ team in any 15-game span since 1935) and the result is obvious; they have fallen out of first in the East and are far enough behind Tampa to make this series crucial.
The Difference of late for the Rays has been Junior Caminero who has homered ten times in his last ten games.
Lets dive into tonight’s matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Yankees vs. Rays
- Date: Monday, July 6, 2026
- Time: 6:40PM EST
- Site: Tropicana Field
- City: St. Petersburg, FL
- Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, YES, Rays.TV
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The Latest Odds: Yankees vs. Rays
The latest odds as of Monday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: New York Yankees (-105), Tampa Bay Rays (-115)
- Spread: Rays +1.5 (-198), Yankees -1.5 (+162)
- Total: 7.5 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers and their Stats: Rays vs. Yankees for July 6
- Rays: Griffin Jax
Season Totals: 60.0 IP, 4-5, 3.45 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 58K, 20 BB - Yankees: Cam Schlittler
Season Totals: 104.0 IP, 8-5, 2.08 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 123K, 21 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Yankees vs. Rays
- Trent Grisham is 3-9 over his last 3 games since returning from the disabled list
- Amed Rosario leads the club with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs over the last 10 games
- Anthony Volpe is 4-31 over his last 10 games
- Cody Bellinger is 2-17 (.118) to start July after closing last month 2-27 over his last 8 games
- After hitting .385 in June, Yandy Diaz is just 1-16 to start July
- Junior Caminero has blasted 10 home runs and driven in 19 runs over his last 10 games
- Cedric Mullins is 5-17 in July
- Chandler Simpson has hit in 8 straight games (11-30) and 12 of his last 13 (18-48)
- Caminero and Simpson have each gone yard against Cam Schlittler
- Diaz has struck out 4 times in 7 ABs against Schlittler
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: Yankees vs. Rays
- The Yankees are 40-49 on the Run Line this season
- The Rays are an MLB-best 53-34 on the Run Line this season
- The OVER has cashed 38 times in Tampa’s 87 games this season (38-45-4)
- The OVER has cashed 40 times in the Yankees’ 89 games this season (40-45-4)
Expert picks & predictions: Yankees vs. Rays
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Rays and the Yankees:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Yankees on the Moneyline.
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Run Line.
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Game Total OVER 7.5
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