MLB Betting Odds: Rays and Padres Meet at Tropicana Field
The San Diego Padres lead MLB betting boards with over 13 units of profit at the window, and they're looking for more this week on the road at Tampa Bay.
Two teams that have been pleasant surprises this baseball season begin a three-game set at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field on Tuesday when the Tampa Bay Rays host the San Diego Padres. The Rays begin the series in second place of the tough AL East while the Pads are atop the NL West with the NL's second-best record.
However, that all comes with the caveat that neither team is playing its best right now after fast starts. San Diego has dropped four of its last seven and stands 9-9 in June. Tampa Bay has fallen on even tougher times, losing seven of 10 and on a 12-16 run since May 20.
MLB odds released Monday afternoon placed 125-130 chalk on the Rays with a total of eight runs.
Rays starter Wade Davis (6-7, 4.94) has seen his season follow right along with the team's as he prepares for his 14th starting assignment. The Rays' 12-16 record since May 20 includes a 1-4 mark when Davis is on the hill.
Davis' June got off to a horrible start in Texas when the Rangers lit him up for eight runs in less than four innings. Though his last two starts have been losses, they have been improvements from that game with Davis allowing six earned in 12 innings to the Blue Jays and Braves. The 6-foot-5 right-hander has also registered an outstanding 15:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 15 1/3 innings this month.
Tuesday's contest will be his first career go against the Padres and just his second start against an NL club.
It will also be the first time San Diego's Mat Latos (8-5, 3.19) has ever faced the Rays. The former 11th-round pick is coming off a win at home last Tuesday versus the Blue Jays, 8-2. Latos worked 6 2/3 innings, gave up two runs on just four hits and struck out seven. His three June starts have produced a 21:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 17 2.3 frames.
His stats have not suffered when he's pitching away from Petco Park with San Diego 5-2 in his seven road starts and Latos sporting a 3.59 ERA. The one number that does jump is his propensity to give up the long ball with six of the nine homers he's allowed in 2010 coming on the road.
Besides playing on their home field, the Rays have one distinct and pronounced advantage for this game and this series. Tampa Bay is averaging a full run more per game, 5.2 to 4.2, than San Diego. The Padres do lead the majors with a 3.10 staff ERA, but the Rays are not far behind in fourth at 3.58.
It's been a little more than three years since San Diego and Tampa Bay went head-to-head. The Padres won two of three on the road in June 2007 with the Rays leading the all-time series 5-4. The 'over' also holds a 5-4 edge.
The series continues Wednesday and Thursday with Padres manager Bud Black sending Kevin Correia (8-5, 5.27) and Wade LeBlanc (8-4, 2.88) out to the mound for the games. Rays field boss Joe Maddon is undecided on the exact order of his starting hurlers in those games with Matt Garza (8-6, 4.16) and James Shields (7-6, 4.50) the expected arms.
The permanent roof on Tropicana Field means weather won't interrupt the game. That's a good thing on Tuesday when the forecasts are calling for at least a 40 percent chance of evening thunderstorms.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
The San Diego Padres lead MLB betting boards with over 13 units of profit at the window, and they're looking for more this week on the road at Tampa Bay.
Two teams that have been pleasant surprises this baseball season begin a three-game set at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field on Tuesday when the Tampa Bay Rays host the San Diego Padres. The Rays begin the series in second place of the tough AL East while the Pads are atop the NL West with the NL's second-best record.
However, that all comes with the caveat that neither team is playing its best right now after fast starts. San Diego has dropped four of its last seven and stands 9-9 in June. Tampa Bay has fallen on even tougher times, losing seven of 10 and on a 12-16 run since May 20.
MLB odds released Monday afternoon placed 125-130 chalk on the Rays with a total of eight runs.
Rays starter Wade Davis (6-7, 4.94) has seen his season follow right along with the team's as he prepares for his 14th starting assignment. The Rays' 12-16 record since May 20 includes a 1-4 mark when Davis is on the hill.
Davis' June got off to a horrible start in Texas when the Rangers lit him up for eight runs in less than four innings. Though his last two starts have been losses, they have been improvements from that game with Davis allowing six earned in 12 innings to the Blue Jays and Braves. The 6-foot-5 right-hander has also registered an outstanding 15:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 15 1/3 innings this month.
Tuesday's contest will be his first career go against the Padres and just his second start against an NL club.
It will also be the first time San Diego's Mat Latos (8-5, 3.19) has ever faced the Rays. The former 11th-round pick is coming off a win at home last Tuesday versus the Blue Jays, 8-2. Latos worked 6 2/3 innings, gave up two runs on just four hits and struck out seven. His three June starts have produced a 21:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 17 2.3 frames.
His stats have not suffered when he's pitching away from Petco Park with San Diego 5-2 in his seven road starts and Latos sporting a 3.59 ERA. The one number that does jump is his propensity to give up the long ball with six of the nine homers he's allowed in 2010 coming on the road.
Besides playing on their home field, the Rays have one distinct and pronounced advantage for this game and this series. Tampa Bay is averaging a full run more per game, 5.2 to 4.2, than San Diego. The Padres do lead the majors with a 3.10 staff ERA, but the Rays are not far behind in fourth at 3.58.
It's been a little more than three years since San Diego and Tampa Bay went head-to-head. The Padres won two of three on the road in June 2007 with the Rays leading the all-time series 5-4. The 'over' also holds a 5-4 edge.
The series continues Wednesday and Thursday with Padres manager Bud Black sending Kevin Correia (8-5, 5.27) and Wade LeBlanc (8-4, 2.88) out to the mound for the games. Rays field boss Joe Maddon is undecided on the exact order of his starting hurlers in those games with Matt Garza (8-6, 4.16) and James Shields (7-6, 4.50) the expected arms.
The permanent roof on Tropicana Field means weather won't interrupt the game. That's a good thing on Tuesday when the forecasts are calling for at least a 40 percent chance of evening thunderstorms.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!