Rays, Guardians American League Best Bets for September 9

There are multiple games tonight on the American League schedule, and there’s value to be found. Below, you can find our AL best bets from FanDuel Sportsbook.Tampa Bay Rays (-104) vs. New York Yankees (-112) Total: 7 (O -114, U -106)

The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees will begin a three-game weekend series tonight from Yankee Stadium. The Rays enter this matchup after sweeping the Boston Red Sox in a three-game set, while the Yankees took three-of-four games from the Minnesota Twins. After such an explosive first half of their season, the Yankees find themselves with just a 4.5-game lead in the AL East over the Rays, demonstrating the importance of this September series. The Yankees have posted a 5-5 record over their past ten games, while the Rays currently occupy the top Wild Card position in the American League and are 8-2 over their past ten games after three straight victories. Despite having capable offenses, neither of these teams has been scoring many runs of late, which should be interesting with a quality pitching matchup on deck. 

With both teams’ offensive struggles, it shouldn’t be surprising that each side will expect a lot from their starting pitcher. The visiting Rays are expected to send righthander Drew Rasmussen to the bump, while the Yankees will counter with trade deadline acquisition Frankie Montas. The Rays righty owns an excellent 9-4 record, paired with a 2.70 ERA and 103 strikeouts, while Montas is 5-11 with a 3.79 ERA and 136 punchouts. Rasmussen has continued to be relied upon by Tampa Bay, and they’ll need him to continue going strong against a team looking to break out offensively. After a poor start to his Yankees tenure, Montas has settled in and been putting together much better starts.

When these teams have met this season, runs have come at a premium, and the matchups have generally been of the low-scoring variety, so it shouldn’t be surprising to see a relatively low total set at 7. With how both starters have been pitching, siding with the under in what should be a tight game makes a lot of sense at -106. 

Best Bet: Under 7 (-106)

The Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins will kick off a crucial three-game weekend series tonight from Target Field. The Guardians enter this divisional series with a 1.5-game lead over both the Twins and Chicago White Sox, meaning there will be added importance to the eight meetings these teams have with one another down the stretch. The Twins salvaged the final game of their four-game set with the New York Yankees but struggled immensely in that matchup, while the Guardians took two-of-three games from the lowly Kansas City Royals. The Twins have been a much more effective home team where they own a 40-29 record, but the Guardians should still hold the advantage with a more consistent starting pitcher set to take the mound. 

Pitching has been a strength for the Guardians, which will be highlighted in this series opening matchup. The visiting Guardians are expected to send righthander Cal Quantrill to the bump, while the Twins will be countering with Dylan Bundy. The Guardians righty owns an 11-5 record, paired with a 3.55 ERA and 101 strikeouts, while Bundy is 8-6 with a 4.34 ERA and 84 punchouts. Quantrill has been pitching well for the Guardians down the stretch and has already had a dominant performance against the Twins, where he pitched eight innings and allowed three earned runs.

With Quantrill on the mound for the Guardians, you have to feel more secure than with Bundy. Seeing similar odds on the moneyline, there’s potential value with the Guardians, so looking towards Cleveland at -104 makes more sense.

Best Bet: Guardians moneyline (-104)