Surging Rays Favored Yet Again Against AL-Leading Guardians
Guardians vs Rays Preview Has Tampa Bay Favored For Seventh Game In A Row Against Cleveland
Hard-Throwing Bradley Could Be A Player Prop Option In Series Opener For Rays
If not for an extra-inning win after squandering a six-run lead, the Cleveland Guardians would be heading into the weekend after dropping four straight games to the Detroit Tigers.
Will a trip to St. Petersburg to face the Tampa Bay Ray change the fortunes for the Guardians? The Guardians vs Rays betting preview has host Tampa Bay favored in the series opener.
- The teams split the six games played during the 2023 season, with three of those games being decided by one run. Six of the last 10 games between the Guardians and the Rays landed under the total.
The free MLB picks for today have Tampa Bay priced at -135 to win the series opener. It is the seventh time in a row that the Rays are favored against Cleveland.
When looking at the Cleveland Guardians standings, Cleveland’s lead in the American League Central has been cut to 4.5 games over the Minnesota Twins.
They do have the best record in the American League by the slimmest of margins against Baltimore.
- The Guardians are sixth at +1400 in the MLB odds of winning the World Series, while Tampa Bay is well back at +15000 in the championship odds.
Guardians vs Rays Series Information 
⚾Matchup: Cleveland Guardians 57-35 vs Tampa Bay Rays 46-47
⏰Day/Time: 📍Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
📺Streaming: Friday – Apple TV+
Guardians vs Rays Probable Starting Pitchers
- Friday: Carlos Carrasco (Guardians); Taj Bradley (Rays)
- Saturday: Gavin Williams (Guardians); Zack Littell (Rays)
- Sunday: Ben Lively (Guardians); Ryan Pepiot (Rays)
Kwan, Guardians Know How to Bounce Back
Cleveland outfielder Steven Kwan knows a thing or two about how to rebound from a loss.
- No hitter in the majors has a better batting average following a loss than Kwan’s mark of .420 and his 1.141 OPS in the game after a Cleveland loss is also setting the pace.
That is just one of the reasons why he is leading the majors with a .361 batting average.
- As a team, Cleveland has the fifth-best slugging percentage following a loss with 55 home runs and 108 extra-base hits in 34 games.
Josh Naylor has 11 home runs and 35 RBIs in 32 games after a loss with Jose Ramirez adding eight home runs and 22 RBIs.
Cleveland has won five of its last six games after a loss.
Five of the last six games went over the total for the Guardians.
Glad Josh Naylor is heading to the All-Star game so fans can understand how good he is! pic.twitter.com/iGHYLiahEq
— Discuss Baseball (@discussbaseball) July 9, 2024
Rays Starting To Make Some Noise
It might be a little early for some of the American League leaders to start looking over their shoulders.
However, it is hard to overlook the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays have won six of their last seven series to pull within 4.5 games of the last MLB playoff spot in the American League.
- The Boston Red Sox are the only American League team with more combined home runs and stolen bases over the last 30 days than the Rays. Keep that in mind when it looking at the Guardians vs Rays betting preview.
Taj Bradley, Jason Adam, Colin Poche, Pete Fairbanks, Shane Baz, Garrett Cleavinger, and Zack Littell are all averaging at least a strikeout per inning during that stretch.
Four of the last six times that Tampa Bay has been the betting favorite, the game landed over the total.
Who’s Hot
- Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays P: Bradley is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.08 and with 24 strikeouts in 17 innings.
- Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians OF: Kwan is hitting 12-34 with six runs and three extra-base hits in his last nine games.
- Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays IF: Lowe is 10-for-24 with five runs and three extra-base hits over his last seven games.
- Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians P: Williams surrendered four hits and no runs with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings in his last start.
Who’s Not
- Pedro Avila, Cleveland Guardians P: Avila has allowed 11 hits and eight runs over his last nine innings of work.
- Jonny DeLuca, Tampa Bay Rays OF: DeLuca is 3-for-15 with six strikeouts in his last six games.
- Zack Littell, Tampa Bay Rays P: Littrell gave up nine hits and seven runs in four innings in his last start.
- Brayan Rocchio, Cleveland Guardians SS: Rocchio is 3-for-19 with five strikeouts in his last eight games.
Guardians vs Rays Injury Update
Pitchers James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan are on the injured list for the Guardians.
Pitcher Jeffrey Springs could return for Tampa Bay later this month.
Guardians vs Rays Betting Preview
- Four of the last six times that Tampa Bay and Cleveland squared off, the game landed over the total. The total is at 8 for Friday’s series opener.
Carlos Carrasco will pitch for Cleveland in the opener. He has 11 strikeouts in 11 innings in his last two starts and that is his highest total in back-to-back games this season.
Keep that in mind when looking at MLB scores today.
Tampa Bay’s Taj Bradley has three games this season with at least 10 strikeouts. He has allowed two runs or less in each of his last six starts.
Zack Littell and Ryan Pepiot are first and second on the Rays in strikeouts and they are set to pitch the final two games of the series for Tampa Bay so strikeouts could be popular MLB player prop options in this series.
Tampa Bay has won four of its last five games against AL Central Division teams and with the way Bradley has been pitching, the Rays could be a solid pick as the home favorite in the opener even though Cleveland is 18-9 against the run line as a road underdog.
The Rays have covered in just 12 of 34 games when favored at home.
- Tampa Bay hasn’t been at .500 at home since May 22. That could happen with a win on Friday.
For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
