MLB Pick: Rays ML (-172) at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review)
Picks Summary:
- Red Sox vs. Rays: Rays ML (-172)
- Athletics vs. Orioles: Orioles ML (-190)
- Phillies vs. Reds: Under 8.5 (-113)
The Tampa Bay Rays have been the biggest story of the early MLB season and they conclude a four-game home series against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday afternoon.
Which is the smart play there at the best sportsbooks? We also break down A’s-Orioles and Phillies-Reds MLB odds.
Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Thursday, April 13, 2023 – 01:10 PM EDT at Tropicana Field
This was written before Game 3 of this series from St. Petersburg on Wednesday night. If the Rays won that, they would be looking to tie the MLB record of 13 straight wins to open a season in this one. The 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers currently hold the mark, although neither won the World Series.
Tampa Bay is very good, no doubt, but the Rays have played an incredibly easy schedule thus far: Detroit, Washington, Oakland, and Boston. They all might finish last in their division, and the Nationals and A’s almost surely will.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber was serviceable last year for the Rays at 10-10 with a 4.34 ERA in 31 starts. The 37-year-old winner signed a one-year deal this offseason with Boston that includes a club option for 2024. Kluber was awful in his Boston debut against Baltimore but much better last time out against Pittsburgh. This will be his first road start. Kluber has a 2.98 ERA in 11 career starts vs. Tampa Bay but those were mostly back in his heyday.
The Pick
No organization turns mediocre pitchers into excellent ones better than Tampa Bay, and it has continued that trend with lefty Jeffrey Springs, who is 2-0 this year and hasn’t allowed a run in 13 innings with just three hits. The Red Sox clearly didn’t know what they had in 2020 when Springs pitched 16 times in relief for them and had a 7.08 ERA.
- Red Sox are 5-12 in the last 17 meetings.
- Rays are 7-0 in their last 7 games vs. a right-handed starter.
MLB Pick: Rays ML (-172) at Bookmaker
Oakland Athletics vs. Baltimore Orioles
Thursday, April 13, 2023 – 01:05 PM EDT at Camden Yards
If you don’t fade Oakland in essentially every road game this season, you are throwing money away. This is a bad, bad team. The modern-era record for fewest road wins in a season is 17 by the 1963 New York Mets and 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates. That might be in jeopardy. Seriously, the A’s might not be favored in a road game even 10 times all year.
As of this writing, the A’s haven’t announced a starting pitcher for Thursday, but it honestly doesn’t matter. There’s a decent chance it’s Japanese rookie Shintaro Fujinami, who has had a rude welcome to the majors at 0-2 with a 17.55 ERA with just five strikeouts to seven walks in 6.2 innings – walks were an issue in spring, and in his Japanese career, too.
Oakland’s best pitcher last year was lefty Cole Irvin, and he was dealt to Baltimore in January for a prospect. He faces his former squad Thursday.
The Pick
The A’s didn’t have to deal with Irvin since he still had four years of club control remaining, but he will qualify for arbitration at the end of the 2023 campaign and start to get rather expensive. Irvin has been a bust so far for the O’s at 0-2 with a 9.35 ERA but was in two hitter-friendly situations vs. the Yankees and at the Red Sox. Oakland has the worst lineup in the majors.
- Athletics are 18-43 in their last 61 road games.
- Orioles are 21-6 in their last 27 vs. American League West.
For Baltimore residents looking to bet on this game, you can do it at our top Maryland betting sites.
MLB Pick: Orioles ML (-190) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Cincinnati Reds
Thursday, April 13, 2023 – 06:40 PM EDT at Great American Ball Park
While the first two games above are series finales – and getaway games, so you could see a key player on each side getting the day off – this is a four-game series opener and the Phils’ only visit to Cincinnati. The Reds lost two of three in Philadelphia last weekend. The Phillies’ Seranthony Domínguez blew a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth in the finale, a 6-4 Cincinnati win.
On the road, the Reds might be nearly as bad as the A’s but at home, Cincinnati was very competitive last year and should be the same in 2023. The Reds are 3-2 at Great American Ball Park, taking two of three vs. Pittsburgh and splitting two with Chicago (one game postponed). Cincinnati is 34-40 all-time vs. Philadelphia at Great American Ball Park, including 1-2 last season.
It’s lefty Nick Lodolo (1-0, 1.50) on the mound Thursday, and the 25-year-old is expected to be a big part of the Reds’ future. He left last Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Philadelphia with a 1-0 lead but was the victim of a blown save when the Phillies scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth off Alexis Díaz and Ian Gibaut. Lodolo’s career-high 12 strikeouts were the most by a Reds left-hander since Amir Garrett had 12 against Baltimore on April 19, 2017.
It was Lodolo’s third career game with at least 10 strikeouts, and he became only the fourth Reds lefty in history with at least 7.0 scoreless innings with and 12 strikeouts.
The Pick
Philadelphia counters with its own 25-year-old lefty in Bailey Falter (0-1, 2.61). He took a no-decision last Saturday vs. the Reds, allowing one run over five. In 10.2 career innings against Cincy, Falter has a 1.69 ERA with 10 strikeouts and six hits allowed.
GABP is a hitters’ park, but this total is too high for your MLB picks considering the pitching matchup.
- Under is 14-6-1 in Reds’ last 21 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5.
- Under is 8-2 in Phillies’ last 10 vs. National League Central.
MLB Pick: Under 8.5 (-113) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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