The Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays meet Wednesday in MLB action from Tropicana Field. Here’s a Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros prediction. This will be the final installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Rays vs Astros pick.
Houston Astros Betting Preview
Over the weekend the Astros took on the Boston Red Sox. Houston did well in that series, taking a sweep with three wins. The Astros kept it up with a 6-1 win over Tampa Bay Monday. In game two Houston posted nine hits in a 3-2 win. Yusei Kikuchi lasted 5.2 frames in the start with one earned on three hits.
Ronel Blanco will start for the Astros on Wednesday. So far Blanco is 9-6 with a 3.02 ERA in 22 starts. Blanco is 11-7 with a 3.57 ERA in 46 games (29 starts) over his career.
Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview
Over on the Rays’ side, they faced off against the Orioles in their last set. Tampa Bay lost the first two games before a 2-1 win Sunday stopped the sweep. On Tuesday the Rays could only come up with five team hits in the loss. Starter Shane Baz managed 7.0 innings with three earned runs.
It’ll be Zack Littell in the starter role for the Rays on Wednesday. This year Littell is 5-8 with a 4.11 ERA in 23 starts. Littell has a 21-19 career record with a 4.10 ERA in 196 games (41 starts).
Total Runs Facts
- Seven of the Rays’ last eight games against AL West opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Each of the Astros’ last five night games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last five Wednesday night games at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay Rays Player Prop Facts
- Brandon Lowe has recorded three or more total bases in each of his last three appearances against the Astros after playing the previous day.
- Brandon Lowe has recorded two or more hits in each of his last three appearances against the Astros after playing the previous day.
- Taylor Walls has scored a run in three of his last four home appearances against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
- Brandon Lowe has hit a home run in three of his last seven appearances against the Astros after playing the previous day.
- Brandon Lowe has recorded at least one RBI in four of his last five appearances against the Astros.
- Josh Lowe has recorded a Single in four of his last five home appearances against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
Houston Astros Player Prop Facts
- Alex Bregman has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Astros’ last 10 road games against AL opponents.
- Alex Bregman has recorded a Double in three of the Astros’ last four night games.
- Alex Bregman has recorded at least one hit in each of the Astros’ last 11 road games.
- Alex Bregman has scored at least one run in each of the Astros’ last nine road games.
- Alex Bregman has hit a home run in each of the Astros’ last four games against AL East opponents.
- Yainer Diaz has recorded at least one RBI in seven of his last eight appearances with the Astros as road favorites against AL East opponents.
- Jose Altuve has recorded at least one Single in 10 of his last 11 road appearances against opponents that held a losing record.
Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros Prediction
I’ll stay with the Rays. We should have a pretty good starter matchup here if both guys are on point, though. Littell is 2-1 in his last three starts with four earned runs over 17.2 innings of work total. As for Blanco, he’s 0-1 in his last trio with eight earned runs in 13.1 innings.
On Tuesday the Rays couldn’t really get the bats going and failed to keep up on the scoreboard. Drew Rasmussen was the only arm to come out of the bullpen though, so the relievers should be fresh for Wednesday’s game. Tampa Bay should have a good shot Wednesday if the offense picks up.