Rangers vs. Rays Wednesday Prediction
Tropicana Field will be the sight for Wednesday’s rubber match between the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays. Which team will come out on top when these squads wrap up their weekday series at 1:10 p.m. ET?
Game Snapshot & Odds
915 Texas Rangers (+105) at 916 Tampa Bay Rays (-115); 7.5 runs
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
1:10 p.m. ET, Tropicana Field
TV: FSSW (TEX); FS SUN (TB)
Public Betting Trends
Oddsmakers from online sportsbook YouWager currently list the Rays as a -115 favorite. As of this writing, 57% of the betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks are on the Rays to beat the Rangers on the money line. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our MLB Public Betting Page for updated figures on this game.
Rangers’ Hamels draws some positives from start vs. Astros
Cole Hamels allowed two runs over six innings in a no-decision against the Astros on Friday.
Good news: Hamels velocity was up about one mph from his first three starts, as he was consistently in the 90-93 mph range tonight. That’s still not quite ideal, but if he stays there, he can be competitive. He struck out seven and walked two tonight. Both runs came on solo shots from George Springer.
Faria has encouraging bounce-back outing vs. Phillies
Jake Faria was charged with one run over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Phillies on Friday.
The only run scored after Faria was pulled from the game in the sixth inning, as Jose Alvarado gave up an RBI single to Carlos Santana. Faria gave up just two hits while walking one and striking out seven. While he didn’t get the win, it was an encouraging bounce-back outing after his disaster start against the Red Sox over the weekend. He’ll try to build off this one in a start against the Rangers next week.
MLB Betting Trends
Texas
The Rangers are 5-1 in their last five games in Tampa Bay and are 5-1 in their last five games versus the Rays overall.
Tampa Bay
The Rays are 1-8 in their last nine home games and have dropped six of Faria’s last seven starts.
Prediction:
Hamels hasn’t been great but I don’t trust the Rays’ offense to contribute enough to push the combined score over the total. We saw that last night when Tampa Bay mustered just two runs against a pitcher in Matt Moore that they should have handled. There’s no pop in Tampa. The under is 4-1 in Hamels’ last five starts and has cashed in four straight Faria’s last five starts.
The Pick: Rangers/Rays under 7.5