Rays vs D’Backs Betting Preview: MLB Showdown

Today’s Major League Baseball odds turn our attention to tonight’s MLB marquee matchup when the Tampa Bay Rays (54-27) travel to the desert to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks (47-32). The Snakes opened as a consensus -130 favorite with Zac Gallen (9-2, 2.84 era) getting the start. Not much movement on that number with the public divided in early betting with 53% ML Dollars on Arizona. The Rays counter with Taj Bradley (5-3, 3.86era). Let’s start our Rays vs D’Backs Betting Preview with a look at the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rays Close Out .500 Homestand

Today’s MLB schedule brings two of the best teams in baseball together for the start of a three-game clash. Tampa Bay needed a 3-1 win against the Kansas City Royals, Sunday, to finish off an uncharacteristic 3-3 homestand against the Baltimore Orioles (1-1) and the Kansas City Royals (2-2).

The Rays are third in Major League Baseball with 123 home runs, but over the last 15 days, Tampa has hit just 11 homers in 13 games, and 23 in their last 27 games. In that span, Tampa has managed 16 wins.

Nothing that would suggest a slump, but a recent 3-5 stretch has many bettors wondering if they’re worth a wager, on the road, against a quality pitcher. Taj Bradley will be making his 11th start, fifth on the road where the rookie is 2-1 with a 2.13 era. Let’s continue our Rays vs Diamondbacks betting preview with a look at the D’Backs.

Arizona Avoids Disaster Against Giants

The San Francisco Giants could have come within a half-game of the division lead with a win against Arizona, Sunday, but Ketel Marte crushed a 2-run shot in the 8th to extend the D-Backs lead to 4-1, in support of a terrific seven-inning effort from Ryne Nelson (4-4, 4.97 era).

Arizona’s power numbers (91 homers in 79 games) are 32 behind the Rays this season, but over the last month, the Diamondbacks have hit 10 more than the AL East leaders.

A few concerns remain, can the Diamondbacks come home off a road trip from the Bay and be completely focused on Tampa who is likely not happy with their performance on their homestand? In Arizona’s last four games after coming off long road trips (7 or more games), the Snakes have lost four straight.

Their record against the elite teams in baseball also should give Arizona bettors some pause after losing 53 of their last 74 games against teams playing .600 ball or better. Those numbers alone have to give Arizona bettors some pause. We conclude our Rays vs D’Backs Betting Preview with our official selection.

Rays Won’t be Snake Bit Against Arizona

Nagging injuries are starting to pile up for the Rays, but they still have plenty in the tank to go on the road and steal a game-one win. Tampa has won eight of their last 10 against teams with a winning record, improving their season-long mark to 28-15 (.651) +369 units against teams .500 or better.

That’s a dramatic improvement over 2022 when Tampa finished 46-49 (-661 units) against the better teams in the league. Last year was the first year since 2016 that bettors lost backing the Rays in that situation. Since 2017, Tampa is 264-222 (.543) +3914 units, against teams .500 or better (118 units better than second place Milwaukee Brewers +3796).

Our official selection for tonight’s game is the Tampa Bay Rays but get this early because even though there has been some early action on Arizona, expect betting patterns to sway in favor of Tampa. If you can find anything less than -130, grab it now. That concludes our Rays vs D’Backs Betting Preview, we wish you the best with your Tuesday wagers.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

• Phillies vs Cubs Preview: Red-Hot Suarez Has Visiting Phillies Favored in Tuesday’s Series Opener
• Astros vs Cardinals Betting Preview: Houston Favored in Opener
• Giants vs Jays Match-Up Analysis: In-Depth Match-Up Preview
• New York Yankees vs Oakland Athletics Series Preview: No Judge, No Problem?
• Marlins vs Red Sox Preview: Analyzing the Key Matchup Factors