Rays vs. Giants prediction, odds, pick, how to watch

clutchpoints.com

15 August 2023

Rays vs. Giants prediction, odds, pick, how to watch

The Tampa Bay Rays take on the San Francisco Giants. Our MLB odds series has our Rays Giants prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Rays Giants.

The San Francisco Giants have had a wild rollercoaster ride this season. They started the campaign with a 6-13 record through 19 games. Then they won 38 of their next 58 games and grabbed a 44-33 record through 77 contests. At 54-41 through 95 games, the Giants lost six in a row to fall to 54-47. Then they build their record back to 60-49. Now they have lost seven of 10 to fall to 63-56. They still occupy the No. 2 wild card position in the National League, but now their place in the standings is much more precarious than it was a week and a half ago. At 60-49, the Giants had created some distance between themselves and the chasing pack. After losing seven of 10, the Giants are now just half a game ahead of the Miami Marlins for the second wild card spot. More crucially and urgently, they're now only 1.5 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. If the Giants fall behind both the Marlins and one of the N.L. Central wild card contenders, they will miss the playoffs. Their margin for error is small.

What complicates the Giants' task is that they're in the middle of a homestand against two of the elite teams in the American League. They were one out away from getting swept by the Texas Rangers over the weekend before a Patrick Bailey home run saved them and gave them a win. They got crushed by the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday in the opener of this midweek series. The Giants urgently need to turn things around before they fall out of a wild card position. They're dangerously close to doing so.

Here are the Rays-Giants MLB odds,

MLB Odds: Rays-Giants Odds

Tampa Bay Rays: -1.5 (+150)

San Francisco Giants: +1.5 (-182)

Over: 8.5 (-105)

Under: 8.5 (-115)

How To Watch Rays vs. Giants

For the inside story on the 24 people banned from MLB, listen below:

TV: Bally Sports Sun (Rays) / NBC Sports Bay Area (Giants) / MLB Extra Innings

Stream: MLB.tv

Time: 9:45 p.m. ET/6:45 p.m. PT

*Watch Rays-Giants LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Rays Could Cover The Spread

The Rays have not been great since their 29-7 start to the season. After destroying the rest of Major League Baseball in the first six weeks of the season, the Rays have basically been a .500 ballclub. They are 43-42 in their last 85 games. However, while the post-April Rays have not been that good, the past two weeks have been solid. The Rays have won nine out of their last 14 and have stabilized. At 72-49, they still have one of the three best records in the American League and one of the five best records in baseball. Their position as a wild card team is secure. Even if the Houston Astros (68-52, 3.5 games behind them) are able to catch and pass them, the Rays would still be comfortably in the playoffs. They're 5.5 games ahead of Toronto, the team occupying the No. 3 wild card position. Tampa Bay is 7.5 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners, the leading chaser in the wild card race. The Rays are playing well and have endured their slump. They look once again like a World Series contender.

Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread

The Giants played a terrible baseball game on Monday against the Rays. More than that, their offense has been dead as a doornail over the past several games. San Francisco has not scored more than three runs in any of its last five games. You would have to go back to August 8 to find a game in which the Giants scored at least four runs. This might seem like a reason to pick against, not for, the Giants, but in a 162-game season, slumps end and trajectories stop. The Giants are bound to have a game in which they hit the baseball well and score runs. They haven't had one good offensive game on their current homestand, which began last Friday. The odds suggest they'll bust out here.