Detroit Tigers (12-10) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (12-11)
April 23, 2024 6:50 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Rays -145 / Detroit Tigers +133; Over/Under: +8
(Get latest betting odds)
The Detroit Tigers and the Tampa Bay Rays meet Tuesday in MLB action from Tropicana Field. Here’s a Detroit Tigers vs Tampa Bay Rays prediction. This will be the first installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game.
Detroit Tigers Betting Preview
Detroit played the Minnesota Twins in their weekend series. The Tigers lost Saturday 4-3, but managed wins in the other pair. On Monday versus Tampa Bay, Detroit scored twice in the second and fifth innings on the way to a 7-1 blowout win. Starting pitcher Tarik Skubal finished with 6.0 clean frames, three hits, no walks and nine Ks. Mark Canha had three hits, two runs, two RBI and a homer at the plate.
In the Tuesday matchup the Tigers will send out Kenta Maeda in the starting pitcher role. Maeda is 0-1 with a 7.64 ERA in four starts this year, striking out 12 in 17.2 innings. Maeda is 65-50 with a 3.99 ERA in 194 career games (159 starts).
Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview
Over on the Rays’ side, they were able to blank the New York Yankees 2-0 on Saturday but otherwise lost 5-3 and 5-4 in their weekend series. On Monday Tampa Bay was out-hit 11-6 in the defeat. Zack Littell struggled in the start with 6.0 innings, five earned, nine hits, no walks and seven Ks. Jose Caballero had the lone RBI on a solo home run.
It’ll be Ryan Pepiot in the starting pitcher role for the Rays on Tuesday. This year over four starts Pepiot is 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA and 27 Ks in 22.2 frames. Over his career Pepiot is 7-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 21 games (14 starts).
Tigers vs Rays Injury News
Detroit doesn’t have a whole lot of new info on injured players. Seth Stephenson is day-to-day as of this weekend, and Gio Urshela hit the 10-day injured list back on Saturday due to his right hamstring strain. Sawyer Gipson-Long was set to undergo Tommy John surgery on Monday.
As for Tampa Bay, there are a few more news items on the injury front heading into this week’s series. Shane Baz (elbow/oblique) is set to throw a couple of innings in a spring training game soon, as is Taj Bradley (pectoral). Unfortunately, Taylor Walls (right hip) will be shut down from baseball activities for the next 10 to 14 days due to inflammation.
Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts
- The Rays have won each of their last seven games against AL Central opponents following a home loss.
- The underdogs have covered the run line in each of the Rays’ last nine games at Tropicana Field.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last three home games.
- The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in three of their last four games as favorites against American League opponents.
- The Rays have trailed after 7 innings in three of their last four games as favorites against American League opponents.
Detroit Tigers Team Facts
- The Tigers have lost each of their last nine Tuesday night road games.
- The road team has covered the run line in each of the Tigers’ last six games.
- The Tigers have led after 5 innings in four of their last five games as road underdogs against American League opponents.
- The Tigers have won the first inning in each of their last three games as underdogs against AL East opponents.
- The Tigers have led after 3 innings in four of their last five games as road underdogs against American League opponents.
Detroit Tigers vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction
I’ll stay with Tampa Bay. Pepiot should be pretty good here. He had a bit of trouble at times in the start versus the Giants on April 13 (5.0 innings; four earned in a loss) but has been great in two of his last three. Over that pair Pepiot is 2-0 with one earned in 12.0 combined innings.
On Monday in the opener, the Rays got a bumpy start from Littell and couldn’t do much at the plate overall. Amed Rosario (2-for-4) was the only player with multiple hits in the loss. That makes four or more runs surrendered in eight of the last 10 games. It’s tough to win games that way. I like Pepiot to start things out well for the Rays on Tuesday, though. It’ll be up to the bats and the pen after that.
