Rays/Yankees Line I like the value on the Rays Thursday against the Yankees. I bet the Rays +1.5-130 on the runline. The moneyline is as high as +159 at 5 Dimes or +156 at Pinnacle.
The quick reasons are:
(1) The teams are only 4 games apart in the standings.
(2) Colon's pitching stats are lights out this year and even better recently. Niemann's stats are relatively poor for the season. But he's pitched well since coming off the DL. I think there is a little there that isn't being factored into this line in that Niemann is a better pitcher than his stats.
Even if I made a line at -150 for the Yankees that would mean a Rays runline of perhaps +1.5-140 to +1.5-145. I still think -150 is generous but I don't want to overestimate it based on Colon's strong starts and probably even moreso the Yankees strong play.
It is a big series for the Rays. I think very deflating for them if they lose this series going into the All Star break. And I'm not really saying it won't happen. Maybe there is some advantage for them in that Jeter might be thinking of 3000 hits and the All Star game next week and his gorgeous wife or girlfriend more than the baseball. I can't blame him if he did either really.
