I'm on the Under of 8.5 in this Yankees @ Rays game for these reasons:

- Nestor Cortez has 20 strikouts, and only 7 earned runs in the last 17 inning pitched. The Yankees are on a bad beat right now overall, but Nestors pitching is not the cause of thier issues. He should be able to hold his Tampa Bats to a low number of runs and hes likely to pitch nearly 7 innings tonight, which will eliminate room for the relief pitchers to mess up this bet on the Under.

- Shane Baz is making his second start for the Ray's, but he did will vs the Rangers in his first start, throwing 6 strikeouts and allowing only 3 runs off 7 hits. This is a good time to trot out a young pitcher like Baz during the Yankees skid.

- I'll side bet the Ray's here, but man the Yankees need to get something going. If Nestor can limit the hits and strike out the dangerous Bats of the Ray's (Paredes, Diaz, Siri) that will limit the pressure of the Fielding unit that has had too many errors this season.

Official Play: Under 8.5 Runs

Side Bet: Nestor Cortez over 5.5 Strikeouts

Hail Mary: Ray's Moneyline