Seattle Mariners (56-50) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (64-42)
August 2, 2021 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Rays -170 / Seattle Mariners +157; Over/Under: -8.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays meet Monday in MLB action at Tropicana Field. The Mariners need a win after losing four of their last five games. The Rays look to build on their four-game winning streak.
The Seattle Mariners have scored 16 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in eight of their last nine games. The Mariners have won eight of their last 12 games when scoring four or more runs. JP Crawford leads the Mariners with 105 hits and 33 RBI while Mitch Haniger and Ty France have combined for 201 hits and 108 RBI. Chris Flexen gets the ball, and he is 9-5 with a 3.81 ERA and 69 strikeouts this season. This will be Flexen’s second career game against the Rays.
The Tampa Bay Rays have scored 19 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in five of their last nine games. The Rays have won 10 straight games when scoring four or more runs. Randy Arozarena leads the Rays with 95 hits and 48 RBI while Austin Meadows and Joey Wendle have combined for 170 hits and 112 RBI. Michael Wacha gets the ball, and he is 2-2 with a 4.79 ERA and 66 strikeouts this season. Wacha is 0-2 with a 8.25 ERA and nine strikeouts in his career against the Mariners.
The Mariners are 4-0 in their last 4 Monday games and 4-1 in their last 5 during game 1 of a series. The Rays are 38-13 in their last 51 Monday games and 16-6 in their last 22 overall. The over is 5-0 in Mariners last 5 overall. The over is 5-2 in Rays last 7 home games. The Mariners are 14-5 in the last 19 meetings in Tampa Bay and 21-8 in the last 29 meetings.
The Rays are the better team here and should be favored at home with an offense that’s heating up. However, the Mariners are a team I’ve backed a lot over the last couple of months and Flexen in the big underdog role is worth a look. In his last 29.1 innings, Flexen has allowed just 28 hits and 11 runs. The Mariners have also owned the Rays over the years. I’ll take a stab with the M’s and the big plus money.
