The Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays meet Wednesday in MLB action from Tropicana Field. Here’s a Rangers vs Rays prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game. We will examine:
- The Texas Rangers recent form and player performance
- The Tampa Bay Rays recent form and player performance
- Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Texas Rangers
- Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Tampa Bay Rays
- Recent betting trends in games played between the Rangers and Rays
- A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Rangers vs Rays game
Texas Rangers Betting Preview
The Rangers were able to take two games from the Cubs over their opening weekend. Texas then beat the Rays 9-3 on Monday. In game two, the Rangers gave up four runs in the fifth inning on the way to a 5-2 loss. Starter Andrew Heaney finished with 4.2 innings, one earned, four hits and seven Ks. Jonah Helm had two hits and two RBI on offense.
In the starter role for the Wednesday matchup it’ll be Nathan Eovaldi. In his 25 starts last year, Eovaldi went 12-5 with a 3.63 ERA and 132 Ks in 144.0 innings. Eovaldi put up 6.0 innings with two earned on four hits and a walk during a no-decision in his first time out this year.
Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview
Over on the Rays’ side, they were able to win two of their four games versus the Blue Jays in their opening series. On Tuesday in game two versus Texas, Tampa Bay managed seven team hits. Curtis Mead and Harold Ramirez (run) each had two, and Isaac Paredes had a three-run homer as his only hit.
Aaron Civale will toe the mound in the Wednesday start for Tampa Bay. In 2023, Civale went 7-5 with a 3.46 ERA in 23 starts alongside 116 Ks in 122.1 innings. This year Civale won his first start with 6.0 innings, one earned, four hits and a walk against the Blue Jays.
Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts
- The Rays have lost four of their last five games as home favorites against American League opponents following a win.
- The Rays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight Wednesday home games against AL West opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last three day games between the Rangers and Rays.
- The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in three of their last four games as favorites against AL West opponents.
- The Rays have trailed after 7 innings in five of their last six games as favorites against AL West opponents.
Texas Rangers Team Facts
- The Rangers have won 11 of their last 12 games as underdogs.
- The Rangers have covered the run line in 14 of their last 15 road games.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rangers’ last four day games.
- The Rangers have led after 5 innings in each of their last eight day games against AL East opponents.
- The Rangers have led after 7 innings in each of their last nine Wednesday games as underdogs.
Rangers vs Rays Prediction
I’ll stick with the Rays here. We should have a good starter matchup on tap regardless, though. Both Civale and Eovaldi went 6.0 innings in their respective debuts, though Civale did perform a little bit better stats-wise. On Tuesday Tampa Bay really only had the one big inning offensively with four runs in the fifth. The pitching staff did the rest of the work. Starter Zach Eflin finished with 6.1 innings and one earned, while the bullpen had one earned in 2.2 frames. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rangers come back stronger on offense here, but I still like the Rays to power out another win.