The Houston Astros look for a late-season push into the postseason when they clash against the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of a critical three-game set Wednesday night at Tropicana Field from Tampa, Florida. They toss out the first pitch at 6:50 pm. This is an important series for the Rays, as they want to stay within the AL Wild Card standings.
Bookmaker has installed the Astros -120 on the ML.
The Astros have once again flexed their veteran muscle and have shown the rest of the majors they are still a force to be reckoned with. They are being pushed and tested by the upstart Seattle Mariners, who are not going away soon.
The AL West has turned into a fun division to watch going forward, and maybe these two teams will battle for first-place bragging rights over the next several seasons. But for now, Houston has displayed a nice burst of offense over the last several weeks, scoring runs in bunches.
They will toss out Ronel Blanco, who carries a mark of 9-6 with an ERA of just over 3.20. He has not won since July 9th and has dropped three of his last four decisions.
The Astros will be aggressive at the plate and try to get him some run support early on in this clash. They can break out with some runs against poor Rays pitching. This might be a perfect game for the offense to come alive.
The Rays are hanging on by a thread, and the pitching that carried them so well last season has not been able to duplicate that success this season.
It would have been tough to maintain the low ERA they had early on for the first several months of 2023. This season, they have not been able to muster that type of magic on the mound, and when their offense struggles, their pitching gets taxed and stressed.
Their team ERA is 4.03, which means their offense has to carry them most nights. As a team, they are hitting just .233, and you can see why they have had a rough season. They will not catch the Baltimore Orioles or New York Yankees in the AL East, but they are within striking distance of the AL Wild Card, which has two spots available.
They will hand the ball over to Zack Littell, who is 5-8 and has also struggled this season. He is 2-1, though, in his last two starts.
The Rays are 2-3 in their last five games and 2-3 in their previous five games against the spread. They are also 31-24 in their road games against the number. The totals have gone over in two out of their last five games and 29 out of their last 63 at home. The Astros are 4-1 in their previous five games against the spread. They are 31-29 in their road games against the spread.
