Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Prediction 5-28-24 Picks

In this article we will formulate a Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics prediction for this MLB game on Tuesday, May 28th at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game one in the series. 

Rays Finally Pick Up a Win 

The Tampa Bay Rays are 26-28 this season and they have lost six of their last seven games. Tampa Bay is coming off of a series loss against Kansas City, where they lost two out of three games, but did snap their losing streak with a win on Sunday. Prior to that series, the Rays were swept by Boston in three games, won two out of three against Toronto, and won three out of four against Boston. Tampa Bay is 5-7 in their last 12 games and they are fourth in the AL East behind New York, Baltimore, and Boston. 

The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 4.37 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a .244 opponent batting average. The Rays offense has scored 214 runs with a .235 batting average and a .308 on base percentage. Isaac Paredes is batting .301 with nine home runs and 29 RBI’s for the Rays this season. Tampa Bay is 24th in team ERA this year and they have allowed at least four runs in seven of their last eight games. 

Athletics Look to Continue Trend

The Oakland Athletics are 22-33 this year and they have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games. If that trend continues here, the Athletics are due to pick up a win. Oakland is coming off of a series loss against Houston, where they lost two out of three games and were outscored 12-8. Prior to that series, the Athletics won two out of three against the Rockies, were swept by the Royals in three games, and were swept by the Astros in four games. Oakland is just 3-11 in their last 14 games and they are fourth in the AL West behind Seattle, Texas, and Houston. 

The Oakland pitching staff has a 4.37 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, and a .257 opponent batting average. The Athletics offense has scored 206 runs with a .223 batting average and a .296 on base percentage. Brent Rooker is batting .286 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI’s for the Athletics this season. Oakland is 23rd in team ERA this season and they have allowed at least four runs in nine of their last ten games. 

Starting Pitchers

The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Zack Littell, who is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 33.0 inning pitched this season. Littell has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. The projected starting pitcher for Oakland is Mitch Spence, who is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 33.0 innings pitched this year. Spence has allowed three earned runs and 10 hits in his last two starts (7.2 IP), but was roughed up in two relief outings prior to that. 

Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win

The Athletics have lost each of their last eight road games.
The Rays have won eight of their last 10 games against the Athletics.
The Athletics have failed to cover the run line in 10 of their last 11 games.
The Rays have covered the run line in each of their last three home games against the Athletics.
The Athletics have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last nine night games.
The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five road games against opponents that held a losing record.
The Athletics have lost the first inning in each of their last three road games against American League opponents.

Total Runs Facts

Each of the Rays’ last four night games against AL West opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
Six of the Athletics’ last eight games against AL East opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Athletics’ last five night games.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last four games between the Athletics and Rays.

Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Prediction 

Tampa Bay comes into this game looking to gain some momentum after snapping their losing streak on Sunday, and they will face an Oakland pitching staff that is trending in the wrong direction. Oakland is just 9-17 at home this year and I don’t have much faith in Mitch Spence. Tampa Bay is starting Zack Littell, who has been very sharp in his last few outings. I think the Tampa Bay offense is going to have a big day against this Oakland pitching staff and my Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics prediction is for the Rays to win by at least two runs.