Colorado Rockies at Tampa Bay Rays Betting Pick
The Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays are set to start a three-game series on Tuesday in Tampa.
The Rockies come into the series at 48-76 on the season, which is last in the National League West. Colorado has the worst record in the National League and is only ahead of Kansas City and Oakland in all of Major League Baseball. For the Rays, they continue to push toward the postseason.
Tampa Bay comes into this game at 75-51 on the season. That is second place in the American League East. The Rays started the new week three games back of the Baltimore Orioles and 5.5 ahead in the wildcard position. Tampa Bay has 36 games remaining in the 2023 regular season.
These two teams have not played since 2019. The last time they played was April 3rd, 2019. In that game, the Rockies won 1-0 over the Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays are huge favorites in this game. The Rays are listed at -230, while the Rockies are at +190. The total for this game is set at eight runs.
Rockies Struggle Remain Strong
Colorado is coming off a 10-5 loss at home to the Chicago White Sox. That loss snapped a two-game winning streak. During those two wins, the Rockies scored a total of 25 runs.
The second game, which was an 11-5 win, saw Brendan Rodgers, Nolan Jones, and Elehuris Montero come away with three hits in the game. Montero, who was sent to Colorado as part of the Nolan Arenado deal, has been back with the team since July 26th and is 10 for his 30, with two home runs during that time.
The Rockies are led in home runs by Ryan McMahon, with 21 on the season. Colorado as a team is averaging 8.5 hits per game, which is right in the middle of the pack in Major League Baseball. The Rockies are scoring 4.4 runs per game but allowing 5.8, which is 29th in all of baseball.
The Colorado Rockies are planning to send Ty Blach to the mound in this game. The 32-year-old Denver native was fairly strong in his last start. It was his fourth of the season, and it went five innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs in a no-decision against Arizona. Before that, he went six innings and allowed three hits and a run against the Dodgers.
Rays Looking to Stay Hot; Clinch Spot
Randy Arozarena is the big name in the Tampa Bay offense, especially with the subtraction of Wander Franco. Arozarena is hitting .259 on the season and is just one home run shy of 20 on the season. The top home run hitters for the Rays this season have been Isaac Paredes and Jose Siri, both with 24 on the season.
The most recent Tampa Bay win saw them score 18 runs in the game. Arozarena, Paredes, and Osleivis Basabe had three hits, but the big story was the play of Harold Ramirez. He had four hits in the game and drove in four runs. The win was in the second game of the doubleheader that the Angels moved up due to a pending hurricane coming for Southern California.
Tampa Bay will trot out Zack Littell on Tuesday. Littell is a 6’4, 220lbs right-hander out of North Carolina. He is making his 7th start of the season. He is 2-4 on the year, with a 3.99 earned run average. His last start was on August 15th at the Giants. In that game, he went 5.2 innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs.
Rays Win Opener
This should not be a problem for the Tampa Bay Rays. While Littell probably will not go really deep in this game, he should be plenty enough. The Rays score a bunch and win this game with ease.
Tampa Bay -1.5 at -110 is the bet to make for Tuesday.
