Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees MLB 06/03/2021 Full Game The Tampa Bay Rays entered their regular-season series with the New York Yankees as one of the hottest team's in baseball. New York has stymied Tampa Bay's momentum somewhat by winning the last two games in the series as it sends ace Gerritt Cole to the mound on Thursday. MLB betting analyst Mike Ianniello breaks down the matchup, including updated odds, plus his his picks and predictions for Rays vs. Yankees on Thursday, June 3 at 1:05 p.m. ET. The Tampa Bay Rays have vaulted themselves to the top of the MLB standings, holding the best record in baseball at 35-22 after an incredible month. During May, the Rays set a franchise record with 22 wins in a month. They lost just six games all month and finished 16-1 in the last 17 games of May. The New York Yankees (31-25) started the season 12-14 in April, but the franchise improved in the subsequent month of May, finishing the month 17-11. The Yankees have followed up in June with a pair of wins over the Rays and look to secure the series win on Thursday afternoon. Because Kevin Cash refuses to confirm his starter, there are no lines available for this game as of midnight on Wednesday, so we are forced to guess. The Yankees are hard to back when Cole is on the mound, as they are always huge favorites. I am also not a person who likes to bet against the best hurlers in the league, unless the Yankees are facing a pitcher who can realistically match Cole. That is not the case in this game, given Yarbrough’s struggles as a starter this year. Cole was brilliant in his last outing against Tampa Bay, and I find no reason to believe that he won’t be able to produce similarly strong results again on Thursday.