For the second time this season, the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox will go at one another Friday night. It will be the opener of a three-game American League bill, taking place at Tropicana Field. The White Sox won two of three when these crews first met in mid-April.
The host Rays (30-21) just split a four-game slate with Texas by winning the final two contests. This after they took two of four from the AL East-leading New York Yankees at home last week.
Chicago (23-26) has come out on the wrong side of five of its last six. All but one of the losses came by four runs or more. The White Sox were most recently swept in three games by Toronto, who leads Tampa Bay by 0.5 games for second place in their division.
Currently ranking near the bottom third in the bigs in batting average (.236), team RBIs (166), and runs (175), Chicago doesn’t boast too scary of a lineup.
Shortstop Tim Anderson has a team-high .356 batting average, along with a .393 on-base percentage, also tops of any of the White Sox.
First baseman Jose Abreu has provided some complimentary pop, belting half a dozen home runs and bringing across 22 RBIs. He’s caught fire this last week, too, notching eight hits in 19 at-bats. He also worked walks four times during that span.
White Sox at Rays Odds
MLB odds have the Rays favored to turn their opponents’ skid into four games. Tampa Bay is -1.5 on the run line at +104, while the White Sox are -125 to cover the spread.
On the moneyline, the Rays are -210 and Chicago a +176 underdog. The total has been set at seven runs, with the over being -124 and the under +102 at the time of this writing.
Taking a glance at MLB betting trends, Tampa Bay’s bats have been fairly similar to the White Sox’. In fact, the Rays’ .231 team batting average ranks five spots below Chicago’s in the bigs.
However, theirs is a team effort. Shortstop Wander Franco has a team-high .270 average, while center fielder Kevin Kiermaier leads with six home runs and right fielder Manuel Margot with 23 RBIs.
First baseman Yandy Diaz has a .383 on-base percentage, and center fielder Randy Arozarena has 48 total knocks.
The hosts’ stable of arms is really their bread and butter, being that their 3.32 team ERA is the fourth-lowest in the MLB.
Matchup Information
White Sox at Rays Betting Preview
The Rays are slated to start one of the biggest contributors to that overall success on the mound in southpaw Shane McClanahan. He has the ninth-stingiest ERA (2.01) in the bigs, and his 81 strikeouts are the most of any pitcher to this point.
McClanahan earned a decision in all but one of his five May starts, going at least five frames and allowing less than three earned runs in each. Tampa Bay won all of those outings.
Getting the nod across from him will be Chicago’s Vince Velasquez, a righty with a 5.30 ERA up until now. His last time out, against Boston, he turned in three innings of work, allowing no hits or runs.
He’ll require a similar stat line and some assistance from his bullpen in order to outduel the Rays’ starter.
White Sox at Rays Betting Predictions
The Rays are tied with Minnesota and Toronto in having the second-most home victories (17) to this point. Chicago is below .500 (12-13) when away from their spot in the Windy City.
It doesn’t feel like the White Sox will improve in this one considering the pitching they’ll have to beat to do so.
With these MLB picks today, Tampa Bay should tally another triumph at Tropicana Field, kicking off this series on a positive note.
Go with Tampa Bay to cover the spread while betting on baseball tonight.
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