In this article we will formulate a Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros prediction for this MLB game on Monday, August 12th at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game one in the series.
Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview
The Tampa Bay Rays are 59-58 this year and they have lost four of their last six games. Tampa Bay is coming off of a series loss against Baltimore, where they lost two out of three games. Prior to that series, the Rays lost two out of three against the Cardinals, won two out of three against the Astros, and split two games with the Marlins. Tampa Bay is 4-6 in their last ten games and they are fourth in the AL East.
The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 4.01 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and a .243 opponent batting average. The Rays offense has scored 460 runs with a .234 batting average and a .311 on base percentage. Yandy Diaz is batting .271 with 10 home runs and 51 RBI’s for the Rays this season.
Houston Astros Betting Preview
The Houston Astros are 62-55 this season and they have won five games in a row. Houston is coming off of a series win against Boston, where they won all three games by scores of 8-4, 5-4, and 10-2. Prior to that series, the Astros won two out of three against the Rangers, lost two out of three against the Rays, and lost two out of three against the Pirates. Houston is 7-3 in their last 10 games and they are tied for first in the AL West.
The Houston pitching staff has a 3.94 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP, and a .234 opponent batting average. The Astros offense has scored 542 runs with a .262 batting average and a .322 on base percentage. Jose Altuve is batting .303 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI’s for the Astros this season.
Starting Pitchers
The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Taj Bradley, who is 6-6 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP over 91.0 innings pitched this year. Bradley has allowed nine earned runs in his last two starts (9.2 IP). The projected starting pitcher for Houston is Framber Valdez, who is 11-5 with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP over 125.0 innings pitched this season. Valdez has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts.
Why the Astros will beat the Rays
- The Rays have lost seven of their last eight night games against the Astros following a win.
- The road team has won seven of the Astros’ last eight games.
- The road team has covered the run line in each of the Astros’ last 14 games.
- The Rays have failed to cover the run line in 10 of their last 11 home games against AL West opponents.
- The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last six games.
- The Rays have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last six night games against opponents that held a winning record.
- The Rays have lost the first inning in each of their last four night games.
Total Runs Facts
- Five of the Rays’ last six games against AL West opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Four of the Astros’ last five night games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last five night games.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Astros’ last three games as favorites against AL East opponents.
Tampa Bay Rays Player Prop Facts
- Yandy Diaz has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Rays’ last five home games against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
- Taylor Walls has recorded at least one Single in each of the Rays’ last four night games against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
- Yandy Diaz has scored at least one run in each of the Rays’ last three night games against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
- Yandy Diaz has recorded a Double in three of the Rays’ last four games against the Astros.
- Yandy Diaz has recorded at least one total base in each of the Rays’ last seven games as underdogs against AL West opponents.
- Dylan Carlson has hit a home run in two of his three previous appearances in night games against AL teams that held a winning record.
- Yandy Diaz has recorded at least one hit in each of the Rays’ last seven games as underdogs against AL West opponents.
Houston Astros Player Prop Facts
- Yordan Alvarez has recorded at least one Single in each of the Astros’ last six games against the Rays.
- Yordan Alvarez has scored at least one run in each of the Astros’ last eight road games against AL East opponents.
- Alex Bregman has recorded a Double in four of the Astros’ last five games as road favorites against AL opponents.
- Alex Bregman has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Astros’ last eight road games against AL opponents.
- Yordan Alvarez has hit at least one home run in four of the Astros’ last five games against AL opponents.
- Alex Bregman has recorded at least one hit in each of the Astros’ last nine road games.
- Framber Valdez has recorded six or more strikeouts in four of his last five appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
- Framber Valdez has recorded a win in each of his last six appearances with the Astros as favorites.
- Yordan Alvarez has recorded at least one RBI in seven of the Astros’ last eight road games against AL East opponents.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Tampa Bay Rays rank 28th in the league for runs scored this season (460).
- The Tampa Bay Rays rank 28th in the league for RBI’s this season (430).
- The Houston Astros rank 2nd in the league for batting average this season (.262).
- The Houston Astros rank 2nd in the league for hits allowed this season (909).
Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros Prediction
Houston comes into this game playing very well and they are coming off of a great series sweep in Boston. The Astros have scored at least five runs in four straight games and they are 30-29 on the road. Tampa Bay was able to avoid the sweep against Baltimore on Sunday, but they have lost two straight series and they are 31-31 at home. Taj Bradley was dominating hitters for a few weeks in July, but he has cooled off recently. Framber Valdez has been very good for Houston over the last few weeks and faces a weak Tampa Bay lineup here. My Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros prediction is for Houston to win.