The Tampa Bay Rays and the San Francisco Giants meet Wednesday in MLB action from Oracle Park. This matchup will be the finale in a three-game series. The Rays took a big win on Monday, then in game two the Giants managed a shutout victory and took the set to 1-1. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Tampa Bay Rays 

The Rays’ offense really got going on 18 hits in the opener of this set, rolling to a 10-2 win. Both Christian Bethancourt and Osleivis Basabe had two hits each. On Tuesday in game two, Tampa Bay had just three hits and two errors in a difficult 7-0 loss. Brandon Lowe, Isaac Paredes and Luke Raley were the only players to record a hit.

In the starter role for the finale, the Rays will go with Aaron Civale. In his 15 starts this year Civale is 5-3 with a 2.61 ERA and 64 Ks in 86.1 innings. Civil is 0-1 in his last pair with a 4.82 ERA and six strikeouts in 9.1 innings. 

Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts

The Rays have won seven of their last eight games following a loss.
The Rays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games as favorites against National League opponents following a road loss.
The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
The Rays have trailed after 7 innings in five of their last six games as road favorites against National League opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last seven games against National League opponents.

San Francisco Giants 

Over on the San Francisco side, they had a pretty tepid offensive outing Monday on six team hits. Thairo Estrada had both the RBI and two hits of his own. On Tuesday the Giants scored all seven runs in their final three at-bats. Wilmer Flores had a two-run homer in the victory and Thairo Estrada added a solo shot.

San Francisco will go with Ryan Walker in the start Wednesday. Over 31 games (nine starts) in 2023 Walker is 4-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 43.1 innings. 

San Francisco Giants Team Facts

The Giants have lost 12 of their last 13 home games against AL East opponents following a home win.
The Giants have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 16 home games against AL East opponents following a win.
The Giants have led after 5 innings in each of their last six home day games.
The Giants have led after 7 innings in each of their last six home day games.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Giants’ last three games.

San Francisco Giants Player Prop Facts

Wilmer Flores has hit a home run in two of his last three appearances against the Rays.
Wilmer Flores has recorded at least one RBI in five of his last six home appearances against AL East opponents.
Michael Conforto has scored a run in each of the Giants’ last four games.
Brandon Crawford has recorded at least one hit in each of his nine previous Wednesday day appearances against AL teams that held a winning record.
Brandon Crawford has recorded at least one total base in each of his nine previous Wednesday day appearances against AL teams that held a winning record.
LaMonte Wade Jr ranks 10th amongst qualified players for On Base Percentage (.383) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

The San Francisco Giants ranks 1st in the league for walks allowed this season (305).
The San Francisco Giants ranks 29th in the league for steals this season (46).
The Tampa Bay Rays ranks 1st in the league for opponent batting average this season (.233).
The Tampa Bay Rays ranks 2nd in the league for steals this season (130).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m likely going to stay with the Rays in this one. Civale has had a few bumps in the road lately, but overall he’s pitching pretty well. Over his last three starts combined Civale is 1-1 with five earned runs in 15.1 total innings on 19 hits and three walks. A quality start from Civale would help immensely here. On Tuesday Tampa Bay had as uninspiring a day as possible at the plate with three hits and three walks. Each pitcher gave up at least one run as well, so it was a bad day on both sides of the ball. That said, the Rays have six or more runs in three of their last five games. I think they’ll get it back here and take the series.