- The Tampa Bay Rays’ AL East title odds shortened from -425 to -2000 over the weekend.
- New York’s price on the same market drifted from +330 to +1400 as Tampa Bay pulled away.
- Tampa Bay’s magic number to clinch the division fell to two after taking two of three from Boston.
- The Rays lead New York by six games with seven left before a four-game series at Yankee Stadium.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rays’ price to win the AL East shortened from -425 to -2000, with the magic number down to two after a weekend that saw Tampa Bay win two of three from Boston and the New York Yankees drop two of three in Arizona.
A Weekend That Nearly Settled It
Tampa Bay took two of three from Boston at Tropicana Field while New York was losing two of three games to Arizona.
The Rays are 95-60, six games clear of the 89-66 Yankees with seven games to play each. The AL East odds board had Tampa Bay at -150 and New York at +130 in July, when the lead was 2.5 games, and the legal sports betting market now treats the race as a formality.
The Board Stopped Hedging
Tampa Bay Rays
- Record
- 95-60
- GB
- –
- Odds
- -2000
- Implies
- 95.2%
New York Yankees
- Record
- 89-66
- GB
- 6.0
- Odds
- +1400
- Implies
- 6.7%
Laying $2,000 to win $100 on the Rays leaves almost no room to be wrong, a number that prices the division as Tampa Bay’s to lose over its final seven games rather than a race still in doubt.
New York’s price moved the other way. A $100 ticket on the Yankees now pays $1,400, long enough odds to say the market thinks New York needs help as much as its own results to close a six-game gap with seven to play. Both prices moved together over the weekend, which is the tell that this was Tampa Bay’s wins and New York’s losses doing the work, not a reassessment of either roster.
One Win In The Bronx Ends It
A magic number of two means any combination of two Rays wins or Yankees losses ends the race outright, and a head-to-head Rays win counts twice. With both clubs idle Monday, the earliest that can happen is the opener of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
The four-game series starts with that doubleheader, its first game a makeup of a May 23 rainout, followed by single games Wednesday and Thursday. One Rays win in the four games settles the legal MLB betting sites market before the weekend. Only a New York sweep keeps the race alive, and even that would leave the Yankees two back with three to play, Tampa Bay at Philadelphia and New York home to Baltimore.
