The Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers meet Saturday in MLB action from Globe Life Field. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Tampa Bay Rays will send out Taj Bradley for the start here and Bradley is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 7 strikeouts this season. In his career, Bradley is 0-2 with a 4.30 ERA and 18 strikeouts against Texas. The Texas Rangers will send out Jacob deGrom here and deGrom is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 6 strikeouts so far this season. In his career, deGrom is 0-1 with a 2.11 ERA and 29 strikeouts against the Rays.
Tampa Bay Rays Recap
The Tampa Bay Rays will be out to bounce back after starting the series on the wrong foot with a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Rangers to sit at 4-3 on the year. After this series, the Rays will head home for a series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Rays Drop Back-To-Back Games
Brandon Lowe leads the Rays with 9 hits and a pair of home runs with 6 RBIs while Jonathan Aranda has 5 hits with 4 doubles. Kameron Misner and Jake Mangum each have 4 RBIs with Mangum logging 8 hits and a pair of doubles while Jonny DeLuca has 8 hits of his own including a triple.
Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win
- The Rays have won 10 of their last 14 games as underdogs against American League opponents following a road loss.
- The Rangers have failed to cover the run line in each of their last five games following a home win.
- The underdogs have covered the run line in six of the Rangers’ last seven games.
Tampa Bay Rays Player Prop Facts
- Yandy Diaz has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six road appearances after playing the previous day.
- Yandy Diaz has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 17 Saturday appearances with the Rays as underdogs.
- Josh Lowe has hit a home run in two of his last three road appearances against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
- Ha-Seong Kim has scored a run in each of his last three appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
- Jake Mangum ranks T7th in the league in Steals (3) this season.
Texas Rangers Recap
The Texas Rangers will try to win the series after starting the set with their victory over the Rays on Friday to improve to 6-2 on the year. After this set, the Rangers will head on the road for a series with the Chicago Cubs.
Rangers Win Third In A Row
Wyatt Langford leads the Rangers with 7 hits including a pair of home runs while Adolis Garcia has 5 hits with a team-high 3 doubles, a pair of home runs and 4 RBIs. Jonah Heim also has a pair of home runs as well on the year while Marcus Semien has the dubious distinction of leading Texas with 7 strikeouts up to this point in the year.
Why the Texas Rangers will win
- The Rays have lost each of their last seven games at Globe Life Field.
- The Rangers have won each of their last seven night games against AL East opponents.
- The Rays have failed to cover the run line each of their last six games at Globe Life Field against teams that held a winning record.
- The favorites have covered the run line in each of the Rays’ last five games.
Texas Rangers Player Prop Facts
- Jake Burger has recorded a Double in three of his last four appearances in night games against AL teams that held a winning record.
- Adolis Garcia has hit a home run in two of the Rangers’ last three games as home favorites.
- Wyatt Langford has recorded at least one RBI in five of the Rangers’ last six games against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
- Jacob deGrom has recorded eight or more strikeouts in seven of his last eight appearances against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
- Leody Taveras has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six appearances against the Rays after playing the previous day.
- Marcus Semien has scored at least one run in each of the Rangers’ last four games against the Rays.
- Corey Seager has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 12 appearances with the Rangers as favorites against AL East opponents.
- Leody Taveras ranks T3rd in the league in Steals (4) this season.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Rays’ last 12 night games against AL West opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Each of the Rangers’ last seven games against AL East opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers Prediction
I’m on the Texas Rangers in this one. I get the allure of backing the Rays, as this is still a Tampa Bay team with a decent pitching staff and Bradley did look good in his debut. However, the Rangers are a potent lineup and one that I think can get to Bradley here. On the other side, we saw what Jacob deGrom can bring to this Rangers lineup when he is on point and when he pitches like the staff ace that we know him to be, and I just don’t see a world where this version of the Rays beat up on the Texas Rangers with deGrom on the bump. I’ll lay it and play it with the Texas Rangers at home in this one.