Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 05/02/25

It’s an AL East showdown as the Rays head to the Bronx to take on the Yankees on Friday night. The Yankees are coming off a series loss against the Orioles, while the Rays were just swept by the Royals – so both teams will be looking to open this series on a high note. New York is 3-1 against Tampa Bay this season, and tonight, the Yankees will be sending their new “ace” to the mound in hopes to shut down the divisional foes.

Today’s pitching matchup will be a repeat of what happened back on April 20th. Taking the mound for the Yankees is the left-hander Max Fried who is 5-0 with a 1.19 ERA this season. Fried has been absolutely stellar this year, posting a WHIP of 1.04 and in 37.2 innings pitched he has only given up two home runs and struck out 33. On April 20th, Fried pitched 7.2 scoreless innings against the Rays, giving up two hits and struck out two. For the Rays, they’ll be sending Ryan Pepiot to the mound who is 2-3 with a 4.24 ERA. Last time Pepiot faced the Yankees he picked up a loss where he gave up three earned runs on six hits in six innings pitched. The Yankees are one of the best hitting teams in all of baseball, and the Rays are not. Taking everything into consideration, I think the Yankees and Fried will get the job done, making the Yankees run line my best bet of the day. 

Rays vs Yankees prediction: Yankees -1.5 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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