Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds 4/17/23

The Great American Ball Park will play host to a Monday night MLB clash between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cincinnati Reds. The Rays (14-2) reeled off 13 straight victories to start the season and rank second in the majors with a 2.64 team ERA. On Sunday, Josh Lowe and Christian Bethancourt drove in three runs apiece to lead Tampa Bay to an 8-1 road victory against Toronto.

Twenty-nine year old southpaw Jalen Beeks (0-0 3.00 ERA) will serve as the opener for the Rays in this contest. Beeks, who has not lasted more than two innings this season, owns a 1.00 WHIP across six innings of work.

The Cincinnati Reds have won five of their first nine home games and are trying to climb out of the NL Central Division basement. On Sunday, Cincinnati SP Luis Cessa (0-2) was rocked for 11 runs and recorded just nine outs during an ugly 14-3 home loss versus Philadelphia. Nick Senzel had a pair of hits and scored a run in a losing effort for the Reds (6-9).

Twenty-three year old phenom Hunter Greene (0-0 5.14 ERA) will take the mound for the Reds in the series opener. After surrendering 24 home runs in 24 starts last season, Greene has allowed just one long ball in 14 innings so far this year.

Tampa Bay SP Tyler Glasnow (oblique) threw a bullpen session on Tuesday and hopes to be back next month. Through 16 games, Tampa Bay ranks 1st in OPS and 1st in runs scored. For the season, Cincinnati ranks 14th in OPS and 13th in runs scored. Take the over. Final Score Prediction, Tampa Bay Rays win 7-5.