It’s first against second in the AL East, with the Tampa Bay Rays taking on the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field. The Rays will be looking to end a two-match losing streak when the action gets underway. Here we tell you if they will get the win, in our latest MLB betting picks.
The double setback for the Rays certainly hasn’t affected their odds to win the division. Kevin Cash’s team is -425 to top the AL East, with the Orioles second in the betting at +750. For the record, the New York Yankees are +900, with the Toronto Blue Jays at +1000.
Moving on to the betting to win the 2023 World Series, the best MLB World Series betting sites have the Tampa Bay Rays at +550, which makes them the second favorites behind the Atlanta Braves (+500).
Behind the two market leaders come the LA Dodgers at +650, with the Houston Astros at +800. There is then a gap in the market before we get to the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and the Texas Rangers, who are all at +1200.
The top-rated MLB betting sites seem to believe the 2023 World Series winner will come from one of those six franchises. But if you are interested in the odds of the Orioles winning the title, they are +2800.
The Rays top the division and they also have a home-field advantage so it will come as no surprise to see they are the favorites. On the moneyline, Kevin Cash’s team is -166 to end their two-match losing streak. As for the Orioles, they are +153 to win and close the gap on the Rays at the top of the division.
On the handicap line, the Orioles are -145 favorites with a 1.5 points start. The Rays are +125 to win and cover the spread. As for the total points spread, it’s set at 8.5, with over at +100, and under at -120.
More Rays vs Orioles betting can be found on our baseball odds table. The odds are taken from the best betting sites for Baseball and online sports betting.
Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles Betting | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rays | -166 | -166 | -166 |
Orioles | +153 | +153 | +153 |
Handicap Line | |||
Rays (-1.5) | +125 | +125 | +125 |
Orioles (+1.5) | -145 | -145 | -145 |
The Tampa Bay Rays are 51-24 overall this season but are 5-5 in their last ten matches.
Overall, it has been an exceptional season. But in their last outing on Sunday, the Rays went down 5-4 away to the San Diego Padres. The defeat at Petco Park followed a 2-0 loss at the same venue on Saturday night.
The two defeats saw the Padres take the mini-series 2-1, which was an impressive comeback after losing the opening match 6-2.
Although two successive away defeats to the Padres isn’t the end of the world (after all, San Diego is one of the favorites to win the World Series), the Rays would want to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.
And a match with a home-field advantage against the franchise who are second in the division is the ideal way to get back to winning ways, and also go some way to restoring confidence. The Rays are five wins better off than the Orioles, and 10.5 clear of the Yankees.
After coming this far, they wouldn’t want to see their season start to derail now.
The Baltimore Orioles finished the 2022 season fourth in the AL East with a .512 win percentage. Their 83-79 record left them three wins worse off than the Rays, who finished third at 86-76.
This season, Brandon Hyde’s team has a win percentage of .620, and their record reads 44-27. They sit second in the division, 5.5 wins ahead of the New York Yankees. This already represents a huge improvement compared to their 2022 campaign.
In their last ten matches, they’re 7-3. In their most recent mini-series, they lost 2-1 to the Chicago Cubs, which was a disappointing result. They did finish the series on a high, defeating the Cubs 6-3 at Wrigley Field on Sunday.
One of the main reasons this match-up is so intriguing is because of the records of these two franchises. The Rays are exceptional at home with a 31-7 record. No one in Major League Baseball comes close to matching that record.
But away from home is where the Orioles have excelled in 2023. With a road record of 22-14, Hyde’s team has the best away form in the division.
This all means something has to give at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.
We say that with a home record of 31-7 it would take a brave – or foolish – punter to back against Tampa Bay. Their results speak for themselves, and although they have stuttered a touch in recent matches, we have to go with the Rays to win and cover the spread for our betting pick.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you: