Braves vs Rays Betting Odds: Elite Matchup in 3-Game Series

The Front-Runners in the Odds to Win the World Series to Clash at Tropicana Field

It doesn’t get much better than this with the American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays meeting an Atlanta Braves team with the best record in the majors. A quick peek at the baseball scores will show that the Rays lead the majors with 34 home wins so keep that in mind when looking at the Braves vs Rays betting odds. Atlanta does lead MLB with 28 road wins.

Atlanta has the advantage of a day off on Thursday with the Rays needing to wrap up a series with defending National League champion Philadelphia.

Tampa Bay won two of the three games the last time these teams met even though Atlanta outscored the Rays 20-14 in the 2021 series. Seven of the last nine games between the teams finished over the total with just three of the last 13 meetings being decided by one run.

Going into Thursday, Tampa Bay is seven games over .500 against the run line total this season with Atlanta 44-42.

When looking at the MLB predictions, Atlanta is favored in the series opener.

The Braves (+375) and Rays (+550) are first and second in the odds to win the World Series title.

Probable Starting Pitchers

• Friday: Charlie Morton (Braves); Tyler Glasnow (Rays)
• Saturday: Spencer Strider (Braves); Taj Bradley (Rays)
• Sunday: Bryce Elder (Braves); Zach Eflin (Rays)

Braves Continue to Rake

The numbers put up by the Braves lineup over the last 13 games are rather frightening with 30 home runs, 65 extra-base hits and almost as many runs scored as strikeouts. Keep that in mind when looking at the Braves vs Rays betting odds.

Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna, Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, Marcell Ozuna, Michael Harris, Sean Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud all have OPS marks over .900 during that span with seven of them batting over .300.

The Braves lead the majors with 174 home runs.

Even with those gaudy offensive numbers, five of Atlanta’s last eight games finished under the total.

Rays Trying to Regroup

The pitching has been faltering a bit for Tampa Bay with so many key hurlers on the injured list.

Going into Thursday’s series finale with Philadelphia, Tampa Bay went 5-7 with a 5.14 ERA over its last 12 games. Tampa Bay continues to pile up the strikeouts, but the 17 home runs allowed in a span of 12 games are a concern. That could factor into the Braves vs Rays betting odds.

Seven pitchers have ERAs over 6.00 during that stretch with Yonny Chirinos and Taj Bradley combining to allow nine home runs in 21.1 innings.

Going into Thursday’s game, four of the previous five games played by Tampa Bay finished over the total.

Who’s Hot

• Zach Eflin, Tampa Bay Rays: Eflin has a 3.13 ERA in his last six starts and hasn’t allowed a home run in five of those appearances.
• Colin McHugh, Atlanta Braves P: McHugh has allowed no earned runs over 3.2 innings in his last three appearances.
• Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves 1B: Olson is hitting .482 with nine runs, four home runs, 10 RBIs and four walks in his last seven games.
• Luke Raley, Tampa Bay Rays: Heading into Thursday’s game with Philadelphia, five of Raley’s last seven hits have gone for extra bases.

Who’s Not

• Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays P: Bradley has allowed 17 hits, five home runs and 12 runs in 7.1 innings during his last two starts.
• Francisco Mejia, Tampa Bay Rays C: Mejia was 1-for-17 with four strikeouts during a recent five-game stretch.
• Eddie Rosario, Atlanta Braves OF: Rosario is 3-for-24 with four strikeouts in his last seven games. All three hits have gone for extra bases.
• Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves P: Strider has an ERA of 4.92 since the start of June with seven home runs allowed in his last six starts.

Braves vs Rays Injury Update

Both MLB teams have needed to show off their pitching depth with Ian Anderson out for the season for Atlanta while the Braves are also missing Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Huascar Ynoa and Dylan Lee.

For Tampa Bay, American League Cy Young Award front-runner Shane McClanahan recently joined Shane Baz, Josh Fleming and Drew Rasmussen on the injured list with Jeffrey Springs out for the MLB season.

Braves vs Rays Betting Preview

Look for plenty of strikeouts in the middle game of this season with MLB strikeout leader Spencer Strider scheduled to start for Atlanta and Taj Bradley going for Tampa Bay.

The Rays took the baseball world by storm when the season began. However, Tampa Bay took a four-game losing streak into Thursday’s MLB matchup with Philadelphia.

Atlanta and Tampa Bay have been listed as the underdog a combined total just 21 games this season while winning nearly 70% of their games as the favorite.

Tampa Bay has covered in 26 of 46 home games with Atlanta 23-18 against the spread on the road. Twice as many Tampa Bay games at home finished over the total as went under the total this season.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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