Rays at Astros Series Preview and Odds
Rays Have Shown Signs Of Life

The postseason outlook for the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros is extremely different considering that only one game separates them in the standings. Tampa Bay is 4.5 games out of the third and final American League Wild Card spot and, with how good the AL East is, the Wild Card is their only avenue of reaching the postseason.
Meanwhile, the Astros, who the Rays visit for three games this weekend, are percentage points ahead of the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. If you’re making Rays vs Astros MLB predictions, the Astros are -136 moneyline favorites in Friday’s opener and are +160 favorites on the runline. The total is eight runs.
Tampa Bay has hovered around .500 for pretty much the entire season, prompting the Rays’ front office to do a combo buy-sell at the trade deadline in which All-Star infielder Isaac Paredes, outfielder Randy Arozarena, starter Zach Eflin and reliever Jason Adam were all traded away and the only big-league talent received was power bat Christopher Morel, reliever Hunter Bigge and outfielder Dylan Carlson. The Rays have managed to win three of their last four MLB scores and odds, though, to give themselves a winning record and remain in the mix.

Houston only made one big deadline move, sending out a trio of prospects (two with MLB time) to the Toronto Blue Jays for starter Yusei Kikuchi who is set to make his Astros debut on Friday night. They really needed to add another starter considering how Houston has basically an entire rotation on the MLB injured list right now. The Astros have dropped three of their last four, including a series loss to Pittsburgh, and have to wake up if they’re going to hold off a Mariners team that improved a lot with some deals over the past couple of days.
Rays vs Astros 
📊Records: Rays (55-53)/Astros (56-52)
⏰Day/Time:
📍Location: Minute Maid Park; Houston, Texas
📺Streaming: MLB.TV
Can Rays’ Rotation Keep It Up?
Despite tons of injuries, underperformance from some key guys, and now the trade of Eflin, the Rays’ rotation has managed to post the 12th-best ERA in the Majors this season with top-ten marks in WHIP, strikeout rate, and walk rate. What has really hurt the Rays’ starters has been home runs as they’ve given up the eighth-most home runs per nine innings. That’s something worth keeping in mind for your Rays vs Astros MLB predictions.
For this series, Tampa Bay will throw Shane Baz, Zack Littell, and Tyler Alexander. Baz has taken things easy as he returns from Tommy John surgery, tossing fewer than 20 innings in his four starts this season. He has looked pretty, all things considered, and should only get better as he continues to find rhythm on the mound after missing nearly a year and a half. Littell has transitioned well from the bullpen to the rotation even if he gives up a bit too many hits.
The issue here is with Alexander who has a 5.81 ERA largely because he has given up 14 home runs in 62 1/3 innings. That’s way, way too many longballs and it belies the fact that his other peripheral numbers aren’t that bad. His struggles aren’t the main reason for the Rays’ lowered MLB World Series odds but he could have a rough go of it against a strong Astros lineup.
Houston’s Lineup Has Been Slipping
It’s never easy to go against the Astros but any Rays vs Astros MLB predictions have to incorporate the fact that this Astros team is just not the same as other dominant Houston groups from recent memory. Not having Kyle Tucker for going on two months at this point has really hurt as has the underperformance of Chas McCormick and Mauricio Dubón. Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez are as good as ever, and Alex Bregman has bounced back from a horrendous start, but the offense just isn’t that deep without Tucker.
MLB player props for guys like Altuve and Alvarez are always good bets, yet it’s a bit tougher when so much of the lineup consists of guys at or below league-average in terms of production. Plus, Houston doesn’t have its usual safety blanket of an elite rotation because so many of the Astros’ top guys are currently on the shelf. Add all of that together and you get a team only a few games over .500 that is only looking like a smart MLB pick for the playoffs because its division is pretty mediocre.
Take Houston Straight-Up
While a player’s team debut is always a big question mark, go with the Astros on the moneyline as -136 favorites in this one. Kikuchi’s peripheral numbers are much better than his ERA would indicate and if there’s any team that can unlock his full potential, it’s Houston. Baz is a quality starter but he just hasn’t pitched much this season and it appears that the training wheels are still on. The under eight (-110) runs are also a good MLB bet here with two decent arms taking the mound against so-so run-producing teams.
Rays vs Astros Odds
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