Tampa Bay Rays (70-48) vs Cleveland Guardians (56-61)
Game Info: Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 4:10 pm (Tropicana Field)
Shawn Armstrong (0-0) (1.15) vs Gavin Williams (1-3) (2.90)
Betting Odds: Tampa Bay Rays -185 / Cleveland Guardians +154 --- Over/Under: 7.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Cleveland Guardians will play the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of their series on Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Tampa Bay won the first game in this series by a score of 9-8 on Friday night. Tampa Bay led 8-5 in the top of the ninth inning, but allowed Cleveland to tie it up without recording a hit in the inning. The Rays ultimately got the win, but it was not pretty.
Guardians Preview
The Cleveland Guardians are 56-61 this season and they have lost five of their last seven games. Prior to this series, Cleveland won two out of three games at home against Toronto. The Guardians have struggled to score runs this year, so it was a great sign to see them score eight runs on Friday. The Cleveland pitching staff has a 3.79 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, and a .242 opponent batting average this year. The Guardians offense has scored 471 runs with a .248 batting average and a .312 on base percentage. Jose Ramirez is batting .282 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI’s for the Guardians. The projected starting pitcher for Cleveland is Gavin Williams, who is 1-3 with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP over 49.2 innings pitched this season.
Rays Preview
The Tampa Bay Rays are 70-48 this season and they have lost three of their last six games. Tampa Bay came into this series after losing two out of three games at home to the lowly Cardinals. The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 3.83 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, and a .230 opponent batting average. The Rays offense has scored 612 runs with a .254 batting average and a .327 on base percentage this season. Isaac Paredes is batting .250 with 23 home runs and 69 RBI’s for the Rays. The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Shawn Armstrong, who is 0-0 with a 1.15 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP over 31.1 innings pitched this year.
Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts
- The Rays have lost seven of their last eight games as favorites following a home win.
- The Rays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six home games following a home win.
- The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in three of their last four games as favorites.
- The 'Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Rays' last six games at Tropicana Field.
- The Rays have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last four Saturday day games as home favorites.
Cleveland Guardians Team Facts
- The Guardians have lost each of their last seven road games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
- The Guardians have covered the run line in each of their last four games as underdogs against AL East opponents.
- The 'Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Guardians' last five road games against American League opponents.
- The Guardians have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last four road games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
Tampa Bay Rays Player Prop Facts
- Wander Franco has hit a home run in each of the Rays' last two games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
- Christian Bethancourt has scored at least one run in seven of his last eight appearances at Tropicana Field against AL opponents that held a losing record.
- Isaac Paredes has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Rays' last five games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
- Yandy Diaz has recorded two or more total bases in seven of his last eight appearances at Tropicana Field against AL opponents that held a losing record.
- Wander Franco has recorded at least one hit in each of the Rays' last 15 Saturday day games as favorites.
- Yandy Diaz ranks 5th amongst qualified players for Batting Average (.318) this season.
Cleveland Guardians Player Prop Facts
- Steven Kwan has hit a home run in three of his last seven appearances in day games.
- Andres Gimenez has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Guardians' last five road games against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
- Andres Gimenez has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Guardians' last three road games against AL East opponents.
- Jose Ramirez has scored at least one run in five of the Guardians' last six road games against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
- Myles Straw has recorded at least one hit in each of his last seven appearances against the Rays.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Tampa Bay Rays ranks 2nd in the league for steals this season (126).
- The Tampa Bay Rays are one of only 2 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both steals and home runs this season.
- The Cleveland Guardians ranks 2nd in the league for home runs allowed this season (119).
- The Cleveland Guardians ranks T28th in the league for RBI's this season (439).
Pick
The Rays did everything they could to give the game away on Friday night, but they still walked out of Tropicana Field with a one run win. Cleveland has to be disappointed that they scored eight runs and still lost, but it is an encouraging sign for an offense that is struggling. Cleveland is starting Gavin Williams, who has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five consecutive starts. Tampa Bay is going with Shawn Armstrong as an opener in this game. Williams has been very good for the Guardians this season, but he will get a very difficult matchup here. I really don’t like what I have seen from the Rays in their last few games, so I am going to take a shot at the Guardians to get the win.
David’s Pick Guardians ML
AUTHOR: David Racey
Mitch's Take...
