Veteran Pavano and the Yanks face Jackson, Rays

Tuesday night’s MLB betting affair saw the New York Yankees (74-64) snap the five-game winning streak of the Tampa Bay Rays (84-52) by beating the Rays 7-2 at Tropicana Field. Both the Yankees and Boston Red Sox picked up a game on Tampa Bay last night, trimming their lead in the AL East down to four games over the Sox and eleven over the “Evil Empire.”

Mike Mussina threw six strong innings, giving up two runs and striking out eight for his 17th victory of the season. After a solid start, Rays RHP Matt Garza was knocked around for six runs (four earned) in 5+ innings; he dropped to 11-8 on the season. The two teams will hook up again tonight in a game that can be seen by baseball bettors on ESPN.

Despite the loss, Tampa Bay bettors have made an absolute killing this year, sitting at +$2,801 on the season. Should the Rays fail to beat the Yankees in both of their next two games, it will be their first home series defeat since the All-Star Break. Yankees bettors made some headway on their losses for the year on Tuesday, now sitting at -$1,090 on the season.

For the third time this season, the Yankees will send RHP Carl Pavano to the mound. The often-injured righty has come back to the New York rotation with a flurry, going 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA and a WHIP of 1.09 in his two starts. His core numbers in six appearances against the Rays are all very good. In 41.1 innings pitched, Pavano has a K/9 of 7.19 and a K/BB ratio of 3.67. His ERA in those six starts is a solid 3.48, with a WHIP of 1.16. Unfortunately, baseball bettors fading the Rays with Pavano toeing the bump have had no success. They’re 4-2 in those six outings, but have lost 0.32 units.

Manager Joe Maddon will counter with Edwin Jackson, who has had a fantastic year as the fifth starter in the Rays rotation. The fire-balling righty is 11-8 with a 3.81 ERA. If Jackson is going to have success tonight, he’ll need to cut down on his walks. He’s averaging walking 2.7 batters per start and has walked at least two men in his last nine appearances.

With the Bronx Bombers averaging ten runs a game over the past two days, free base runners won’t help Tampa Bay’s cause. In the event that Jackson struggles, look for former #1 overall draft pick David Price to make his MLB debut in relief. Maddon will also welcome back Troy Percival to the back end of his bullpen after he missed the better part of August on the DL.

The Yankees own an 8-5 lead in the series between the two teams in 2008. Though the nine combined runs narrowly pushed last night’s baseball betting affair over the ‘total’, under bettors are still 10-3 in the 13 meetings between the teams this season.

The Rays are slim -125 home favorites in this baseball betting match-up. Oddsmakers have lined the ‘total’ in this AL East clash at 9.5. BetUS Sportsbook offers all MLB betting odds be it side, total, or run-line, so before turning on ESPN for tonight’s game, be sure to login to your account and get your MLB wagers in before the first pitch.