The Los Angeles Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays meet Thursday in MLB action from Tropicana Field. This will be the finale in a three-game series. The Rays took a four-run win in the opener, then in game two the Angels evened things up with a five-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Los Angeles Angels 

The Angels gave up two runs in the first inning in Tuesday’s opener of this series, and never took the lead in a 6-2 defeat. Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe each had a homer for the RBI. In Wednesday’s game Los Angeles posted six runs in the first two innings on the way to an 8-3 win. Brandon Drury had two homers, five RBI and three hits as the big offensive contributory. 

As starter for the finale it’ll be the Angels’ Griffin Canning. This year Canning is 7-7 with a 4.42 ERA over 22 games (20 starts). He has 127 Ks in 116.0 innings. Canning is 1-3 with a 4.21 ERA in his last seven games (five starts). 

Los Angeles Angels Team Facts

The Angels have lost each of their last five games against American League opponents following a road win.
The Angels have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games as road underdogs against American League opponents following a road win.
The Angels have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last four road day games.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Angels’ last three day games at Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay Rays 

Over on the Rays’ side, they scored four runs in the eighth inning Tuesday to carry the team to the win. Randy Arozarena (homer), Osleivis Basabe and Rene Pinto each had two RBI apiece. In game two Tampa Bay scored a couple in the sixth but couldn’t dig out of the early hole. Yandy Diaz put up two RBI with a walk and a hit. 

Zach Eflin will take the mound for the Rays on Thursday. This year Eflin is 15-8 with a 3.44 ERA in 29 starts, posting 172 Ks in 167.2 innings. Eflin is 3-2 with a 3.76 ERA in his last seven starts total. 

Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts

The Rays have won each of their last 13 Thursday day games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
The Rays have covered the run line in seven of their last eight games at Tropicana Field.
The Rays have led after 3 innings in each of their last three day games against American League opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last five games as home favorites against AL West opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

The Tampa Bay Rays rank 1st in the league for runs allowed this season (609).
The Tampa Bay Rays are one of only 2 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both steals and batting average this season.
The Los Angeles Angels rank 3rd in the league for home runs this season (220).
The Los Angeles Angels rank 28th in the league for steals this season (71).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll stick with the Rays here, but it’s way too thick of a line to play with. Eflin had a couple of up-and-down outings to kick off the month, posting six earned in 10.0 innings on 12 hits and three walks. Eflin is coming off 7.0 innings with just one earned in a win over Baltimore, though. As for Canning, he hasn’t been bad lately with nine earned runs over his last 17.1 innings, but he’s lost his last three starts. On Wednesday Tampa Bay got into trouble early and didn’t have enough at the plate to come back. The Rays had four or more runs in three of four games prior to that however, so I think Tampa will bounce back in the finale.