Rays vs. Indians Pick
Can the Cleveland Indians avoid a series loss at home to the Tampa Bay Rays when the two meet this afternoon today at 12:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Indians are the favorite in today’s game, as they are getting odds of -145 to win. The Rays are listed with a money line of +130 to win, while the over/under total has been set at 9 runs.
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Today’s pitching matchup has Josh Tomlin (2-4, 5.87 ERA) on the mound to face Alex Cobb (3-3, 3.65) of the Rays. Cobb has been pretty steady this season and as of late. He has lasted at least 6 innings in his last three outings, allowing just 5 earned runs in that span. His season WHIP is 1.28. Tomlin is coming off solid back-to-back starts as well. He has went 15 innings in his last two games, allowing just 2 earned runs and 9 hits with 10 strikeouts. His season WHIP is 1.33.
Cleveland picked up an 8-7 win over Tampa Bay on Monday night, but the Rays bounced back with a 6-4 win on Tuesday night. That snapped a six-game losing streak to the Indians for Tampa. Cleveland is now 20-18 overall and 8-9 at home while Tampa Bay is 20-22 overall and 8-12 on the road.
In Tuesday’s games, the Rays held off the Indians thanks to some bullpen help over the last three innings. Jose Alvarado and Alex Colome combined for three scoreless innings of 1-hit ball. Colome earned his 10th save. The Rays got to Danny Salazar early, putting up five runs in five innings on him. The team had five home runs in the win. Leadoff hitter Corey Dickerson had two of them, giving him eight on the season. Edwin Encarnacion also homered for Cleveland. It was his sixth of the season.
I overlooked the pitching matchup on Tuesday, thinking Cleveland would be okay at home against Jake Odorizzi. That didn’t happen. Today’s pitching matchup also seems to favor the Rays, as Tomlin hasn’t been great this season. Though he has had back-to-back good starts, he hasn’t shown the consistency for that to continue. Cobb has been competitive on the mound all year and is pitching at his best right now. I think he can do enough to lift Tampa to an upset.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: TAMPA BAY RAYS +130