Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros Prediction, Pick and Preview, September 20 (9/20): MLB

Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros Prediction, Pick and Preview, September 20 (9/20): MLB

 

Odds

Time 6:40 p.m. EST
Rays money line -135
Rays run line -1.5 (+165)
Astros money line +113
Astros run line +1.5 (-195)
Over / under 6.5

 

Key stats

  Tampa Bay Rays  Houston Astros
Record 82-65 97-51
Home / road record 49-26 47-28
Last 10 record 4-6 8-2
Streak L1 W2
Over / under record 66-72-9 54-84-10
Runs / game 4.23 4.52
Runs allowed / game 3.74 3.23

 

Preview

The Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays will play the 2nd game of the series at the Tropicana Field on Tuesday. The Astros took the win 4-0 in the first game of the series and they clinched the AL West for 5th time in 6 years. Luis Garcia won his fifth straight decision, giving up two hits and four walks in five innings while striking out four. Hunter Brown pitched three innings and Héctor Neris finished the five-hitter, the Astros 16th shutout this season.

 

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays get here with a 82-65 record and have won 3 of their last 5 games. The team is averaging 4.23 runs per game. They're batting for .242 AVG, 614 runs scored in 1181 hits and 128 home runs, ranking #18 in offense in the league behind the Chicago White Sox. Randy Arozarena leads the team in home runs with 19 and 79 RBI while Yandy Diaz is batting for .295.

Defensively they are allowing 3.74 runs per game and rank #6 in the league. Shane McClanahan leads the pitching staff with a 2.13 ERA, 187 strikeouts and 12 wins recorded with the Rays.

Probable Pitcher:  Shane McClanahan (12-5, 2.13 ERA)

McClanahan will be on the mound in the 2nd game of the series for the Rays. McClanahan allowed three hits and one walk while striking out five across five scoreless innings to earn the win Thursday against the Blue Jays. He hasn't faced the Astros in his career.

Houston Astros

The Astros get here with a 97-52 record and have won 7 of their last 8 games. They're averaging 4.52 runs and batting for .246 AVG, 662 runs scored in 1200 hits and 196 home runs, ranking #8 in offense in the league behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Yordan Alvarez leads the team batting for .304 avg with 37 home runs and 93 RBI. 

Defensively they are allowing 3.23 runs per game and ranking #2 in the league. Justin Verlander leads the pitching staff with a 1.78 ERA, 163 strikeouts and 17 wins recorded for the Astros.

Probable Pitcher: Cristian Javier (9-9, 2.87 ERA)

Javier will be on the mound in the 2nd game of the series for the Astros. Javier allowed two hits and no walks while striking out eight across six shutout innings to earn the win Wednesday against the Tigers. He has allowed 3 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in 5 innings against the Rays in his career.

 

BETTING TRENDS

Houston are 8-3 SU in their last 11 games against Tampa Bay.

Houston are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games on the road.

The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Houston's last 15 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay.

The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 9 games.

The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 6 games against Houston.

Tampa Bay are 13-3 SU in their last 16 games at home.

 

Prediction

The Astros clinched the AL West for 5th time in 6 years while the Rays are in the fight for the wild card with the Blue Jays and are one game below them. Cristian Javier will start for the Astros who has been decent lately and the Astros have won in his last 3 starts. Shane McClanahan will start for the Rays who's having a great season and hasn't allowed a run in his last 11 innings pitched. The Astros might give some players a break after clinched the AL West and with McClanahan on the mound the Rays have a clear advantage. Take the Rays.

PICK: Rays ML (-135)

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