MLB betting odds for the rest of Tampa Bay 2023 season

With a 9-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Rays are officially off to one of the best starts in modern baseball history.

Tampa Bay has started the season on a 13-game winning streak, the first time a team has done so since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers.

A win on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays would cement Tampa Bay as the first club in 139 years to start a season 14-0 when the St. Louis Maroons last did so in 1884.

So how should you bet on the potential historic game tonight and going forward for the Rays? Here's my breakdown with odds powered by Tipico Sportsbook.

Record-breaking game?

Tampa Bay will send one of its best pitchers to the bump in Drew Rasmussen. He's won his first two starts and has yet to yield a run while sporting a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 15:0. The 27-year-old has given up only three hits in 13 innings this year including a a seven-inning, one-hit performance his last time out against the Oakland Athletics. However, this will be Rasmussen's toughest test so far this season as he'll face a much more challenging lineup than he did against the Athletics or in his first start versus the Washington Nationals.

Meanwhile, Jose Berrios gets the nod for the Blue Jays. It's been a struggle for the 28-year-old right-hander since being traded to Toronto in 2021. Berrios has lost both starts this year and surrendered at least six hits and four earned runs in each appearance as he holds an 11.17 ERA through 9 2/3 innings. This comes after a rough 2022 campaign where despite winning 12 games, he allowed career highs in hits (199) and earned runs (100).

Not surprisingly, bettors on Tipico Sportsbook are all over Tampa Bay to have a big performance tonight. A whopping 94 percent of the bets and 86 percent of the money is on the Rays to cover the -1.5 run line and win by multiple runs. 79 percent of the money and 59 percent of the bets are on Tampa Bay to win outright on the moneyline at -128.

With history on the line, I'm betting on the Rays to get the job done and make it 14 in a row especially with the clear advantage they have on the mound.

Rest-of-season outlook

So how has this red-hot start changed the odds for the Rays? At Tipico Sportsbook, Tampa Bay is currently the odds-on-favorite to win the American League East at +117, have the third best odds to win the AL pennant (+440) and are down to +1000 (10/1) to win the World Series in 2023.

I do believe the Rays drop one of these games north of the border but still win the series. Barring something unforeseen, they are on pace to win more than 100 games in a season for just the second time in franchise history (2021).

My best bet would be the safe one in taking Tampa Bay right now to win the division at +117. However, if you believe heavily in the Rays to make noise this postseason, wait to wager on them to win the pennant or World Series as those numbers are too inflated right now and will all but certainly find their level once this winning streak eventually comes to an end.