The Los Angeles Angels and just playing out the string and limping to the finish line as they get set to clash against the playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of a three-game set Thursday afternoon inside Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

They get an early start in this one with a 1:10 p.m. first pitch. The Angels got the better of the Rays on Wednesday night, as they won 8-3. The Rays are -240 in Thursday's clash. 

The Rays (93-60) as we mentioned are playoff-bound but still have their sights on winning the AL East, which right now is in their grasp. They are nipping on the heels of the surprising and upstart Baltimore Orioles, who have been one of the more fun teams to watch this season. They have dropped three of four after a three-game winning streak. 

However, the Rays do not care about that as they are trying to jump them for the AL East crown. They are stacked on offense and have power up and down their lineup. They are led by third baseman Isaac Peredes who has had a wonderful and brilliant season as he has slugged 29 home runs to go along with 90 runs batted in. He is hitting .249 on the season. 

The Rays have a total of 217 home runs this season, which is a staggering number. 

They will send out veteran Zach Eflin who sports a mark of 15-8 to go along with an ERA of 3.44. He has pitched very well this season and has won his last two starts for the Rays.

The Angels (69-83) have thrown in the white towel and at first it looked as if they were going to try to make a push toward the playoffs, but once again they were snake-bitten with tough injuries to key players and now they are simply limping towards the finish line. They are buried in last place of the AL West and only the Oakland Athletics have a worse divisional record than the Angels. They snapped their six-game losing streak with a win on Wednesday night. 

They are led on offense by second baseman Brandon Drury who has tried to pick up the slack for an anemic offense, which has only hit 21 home runs this season. They will send out Griffin Canning who sports a record of 7-7 to go along with an ERA of 4.42. He has fanned 127 hitters in 116 innings of work. 

He has really struggled as he has dropped his last three starts but he is still going out there and giving his team six-plus innings a start, which they need. He just will have to settle down early and get some confidence in the early innings if the Angels have a shot at winning this one. 

The Rays are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the spread., They are also 40-36 in their road games against the number and the totals have gone over in one of their last five games and 46 out of their last 76 games at home. The Angels are 0-5 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the spread. They are also 35-41 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in two of their last five games and 38 out of their last 75 games at home.