The Yankees (50-41) and Rays (53-36) continue their four-game series Wednesday night at Tropicana Field. They have split the first two games with the Rays getting the win last night 6-4.
The scoring came early last night with the Yankees jumping out to a 3-2 lead after three innings thanks to Ben Rice’s 26th bomb of the season. Tampa Bay erased the deficit, however, with a four-run fourth, getting an RBI double from Richie Palacios before back-to-back homers by Hunter Feduccia and Yandy Díaz. Rookie left-hander Ian Seymour struck out 12 Yankees in 5.1 innings, continuing a troubling trend for New York’s offense, which fanned 17 times on the night for the second consecutive game. Let that sink in…34 strikeouts in 68 ABs over the last 18 innings.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup features a couple of All-Stars: Gerrit Cole for New York against Shane McClanahan for Tampa Bay. Cole takes the mound with a record of 3-3 and a 4.01 ERA, while McClanahan is 7-5 with a 3.05 ERA. The Yankees’ ace has gradually rounded into form since returning in May from Tommy John surgery last season. In his last start on July 3, Cole struck out seven and allowed just two runs over five innings in a 5-2 win over the Twins. McClanahan, meanwhile, tossed six shutout innings on July 1 against Kansas City, allowing just three hits with no walks while striking out four in a 4-0 Rays’ victory.
The key storyline tonight as it has been the past few weeks revolves around the Yankees offense. Can they snap out of a funk that has seen them score 66 runs in their last 20 games? Currently four games behind the Rays, scoring runs and winning what is a crucial game tonight will not come easy against a Tampa team that is now 32-13 at Tropicana Field this season. The Rays’ win last night was their 32nd in 45 home games this season.
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: Wednesday, July 8, 2026
- Time: 6:40PM EST
- Site: Tropicana Field
- City: St. Petersburg, FL
- Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, Prime Video, Rays.TV
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The Latest Odds: Yankees vs. Rays
The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: New York Yankees (-101), Tampa Bay Rays (-120)
- Spread: Yankees -1.5 (+176), Rays +1.5 (-215)
- Total: 7.0 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers and their Stats: Yankees vs. Rays for July 8
- Yankees: Gerrit Cole
Season Totals: 42.2 IP, 3-3, 4.01 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 41K, 10 BB - Rays: Shane McClanahan
Season Totals: 79.2 IP, 7-5, 3.05 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 77K, 28 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Yankees vs. Rays
- Ben Rice has hit safely in 3 straight games (5-12) with 1 HR in each of his last 2 games
- Paul Goldschmidt is without a hit in his last 9 games (0-30)
- Cody Bellinger picked up a hit last night and is now 3-33 over his last 8 games
- Bellinger has struck out 5 times in his last 8 trips to the plate
- Cedric Mullins is 11-33 with 1HR in his career against Gerrit Cole
- Amed Rosario is 3-6 in his career against Shane McClanahan
- Yandy Diaz went 2-4 last night to snap a 1-19 stretch
- Richie Palacios is 7-14 over his last 5 games
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: Yankees vs. Rays
- The Yankees are 41-50 on the Run Line this season
- The Rays are 54-35 on the Run Line this season
- The OVER has cashed 39 times in Tampa’s 89 games this season (39-46-4)
- The OVER has cashed 41 times in the Yankees’ 91 games this season (41-46-4)
Misiorowski and Skenes face off on Sunday Leadoff
Looking to stay alive in the NL Wild Card race, the Pirates welcome the NL Central-leading Brewers to PNC Park for a divisional showdown on MLB Sunday Leadoff at 12pm ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
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 Yankees and the Rays:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Yankees on the Run Line.
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Game Total OVER 7.0
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