Rays vs Astros Prediction

Houston Astros (58-45) vs Tampa Bay Rays (62-43)

Game Info: Friday, July 28, 2023 at 8:10 pm (Minute Maid Park)

Cristian Javier (7-2) (4.32) vs Shane McClanahan (11-1) (2.89)

Betting Odds: Houston Astros -111 / Tampa Bay Rays -116 --- Over/Under: 8.5

The Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros face off on Friday in an MLB showdown at Minute Maid Park. 

Rays Need to Turn it Around

The Rays sit with a 62-43 record overall but they have lost three of their last four of the games. On Wednesday against the Miami Marlins the offense scored only a run and that led to the six run defeat. Zach Eflin went four innings giving up seven hits and five runs. The Rays are averaging 5.19 runs while their pitching is giving up 3.85 runs per game. The offense is ranked 4th while the pitching is ranked 1st. After so much success early in the season, they are now in second place in the American League East. Shane McClanahan has been one of the reasons the Rays have found so much success this season and he currently sits with an 11-1 record and an ERA of 2.89. 

Rays Betting Trends

• The Rays have won nine of their last 10 games against American League opponents following a home loss.
• The Rays have covered the run line in seven of their last eight games as favourites against American League opponents following a home loss.
• The Rays have led after 3 innings in each of their last three night games.
• The 'Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Rays' last three night games against American League opponents.
• The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last six games as road favourites against American League opponents.

Can the Astros win the Division?

The Astros sit with a 58-45 record overall, but that is only good enough for second place in the AL West, with the Texas Rangers sitting in 1st place. On Wednesday the pitching really struggled giving up 13 runs and that led to the eight run defeat. Framber Valdez hasn’t been good enough this season and on Wednesday he went 3.2 innings giving up eight hits and six runs. The Astros are averaging 4.69 runs while their pitching is giving up 4.22 runs per game. The offense is ranked 12th while the pitching is ranked 8th. On the mound for the Astros will be Cristian Javier who sits with a 7-2 record and an ERA of 4.32. In his last start against the A’s he went 5.1 innings giving up one hit and two runs. 

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Astros Betting Trends

• The Astros have won each of their last five games as underdogs following a home loss.
• The Astros have covered the run line in each of their last nine games as underdogs following a loss.
• The Astros have led after 3 innings in 10 of their last 14 games as underdogs against AL East opponents.
• The Astros have led after 7 innings in each of their last three games as home underdogs against AL East opponents.
• The Astros have led after 5 innings in four of their last five games as underdogs against AL East opponents.

Rays and Astros Facts

• The Houston Astros ranks 5th in the league for ERA this season (3.81).
• The Houston Astros ranks T5th in the league for strikeouts this season (945).
• The Tampa Bay Rays ranks 1st in the league for hits allowed this season (782).
• The Tampa Bay Rays ranks 1st in the league for runs allowed this season (404).

Shane’s Free Pick

This game is going to be a pitchers duel. Javier has been good this season and in his last start he gave up two runs. McClanhan sits with an ERA of 2.89 and the Astros bats are going to really struggle again in this game. This is going to be a game where the Astros score only a run or two and the under is going to cash here. 

The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.