Rays-Giants prediction: Picks, odds on Monday, August 14

The Tampa Bay Rays (71-49) and San Francisco Giants (63-55) will open the week with a three-game interleague series tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 9:45 p.m. ET at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Tyler Glasnow (5-3, 3.15 ERA) will get the start for the Rays while rookie Ryan Walker (4-1, 2.40 ERA) will get the nod for the Giants in what should be yet another bullpen night for San Fran.

Tampa Bay is beginning a six-game road trip on the West Coast this week and is coming off a series victory against the Guardians over the weekend. The Rays are trying to keep pace with the Orioles, who they trail by three games in the AL East standings. The giant elephant in the room for the team is the situation surrounding Wander Franco and some concerning social media posts about him over the weekend. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Franco has been put on the restricted list and that both the organization and the league are investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, San Francisco is trying to build back some momentum after dropping six of its last eight contests. The Giants lost their series against the Rangers over the weekend, but were able to avoid the sweep with a walkoff victory in extra innings on Sunday.

The Rays enter the game as -135 favorites on the moneyline over at DraftKings Sportsbook, while the Giants are +114 underdogs. The run total is set at 7.5.

Rays-Giants picks: Monday, August 14

Injury report

Rays

Out: SS Wander Franco (restricted list), C Francisco Mejia (knee), 3B Taylor Walls (oblique), RP Andrew Kittredge (elbow)

Giants

Day-To-Day: RP Keaton Winn (elbow), RP Darien Nunez (elbow)
Out: OF Mitch Haniger (forearm), SP Antony DeSclafani (elbow), SS Marco Luciano hamstring), OF Mike Yastrzemski (hamstring), OF Luis Gonzalez (back), RP John Brebbia (hand), OF AJ Pollock (oblique)

Starting pitchers

Tyler Glasnow vs. Ryan Walker

Glasnow is making his first start of the month after being scratched from his scheduled outing against the Tigers last weekend due to back spasms. He was excellent in his most recent start against the Yankees on July 31, delivering seven solid innings where he struck out eight batters and only gave up a solo home run. His road splits have been good so far as he’s 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA away from Tropicana Field this year.

Walker will make his ninth start of the season and hopes to be a tone-setter for the rest of the Giants’ pitching rotation this evening. His last start came against the Angels last Wednesday, where he struck out three batters in the first inning before handing it over to the team’s other relievers. He’s only given up one earned run in his previous seven outings, so he’ll look to keep that going when facing the top of the Rays order tonight.

Over/Under pick

The 7.5 total is most likely a product of the Giants batting .193 as a team over the past week and the Rays missing their hottest bat at the moment in Franco. However, 7.5 is a low bar and both of these lineups are more than capable of putting together just enough production to clear it.

Pick: Over 7.5

Moneyline pick

San Francisco’s hitting woes have been well-documented over the last week and it will have its work cut out for it when facing Glasnow. Meanwhile, Tampa should be able to adjust to the number of arms that it will face out of the Giants’ bullpen tonight and it should be able to pick up the victory and keep pace with the Orioles in the division standings.