Tampa Bay Rays (14-3) vs. Cincinnati Reds (7-9)
April 19, 2023 12:35 pm EDT
The Line: Cincinnati Reds +160 / Tampa Bay Rays -190 ; Over/Under: 9.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Cincinnati Reds meet Wednesday in MLB action from Great American Ball Park. This will be the finale in a three-game series. The Reds took a victory in game one, then on Tuesday the Rays posted a dominant win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays couldn’t find much success on eight team hits in the Monday game, falling 8-1 in the opener. On Tuesday in game two, Tampa Bay scored seven runs in the first three innings on the way to a 10-0 shutout win. The Rays notched 17 team hits, and Taj Bradley lasted 5.1 innings with nine Ks in the start.
As starter for the Wednesday finale, the Rays will go with Drew Rasmussen. In his three starts this year Rasmussen is 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA and 19 Ks in 17.1 innings. He’s 18-9 with a 3.00 ERA in 78 career games (41 starts).
Cincinnati Reds
Over on the Reds’ side, they posted three runs in the fourth inning during the opener and never looked back. On Tuesday Cincinnati had just four hits in the loss. Nick Lodolo managed 4.2 innings as starter with eight earned, four Ks and one walk.
For the starter gig in Wednesday’s finale, the Reds will call up Levi Stoudt for his Major-League debut. This will be a spot start, as Cincinnati wants to give Hunter Greene an extra day of rest after getting hit by a comebacker in his last outing.
The Rays are 5-0 in their last five in game three of a series and 89-43 in their last 132 versus a team with a losing record. The over is 4-0 in Tampa’s last four in game three of a series.
Meanwhile, the Reds are 17-36 in their last 53 versus a right-handed starter and 13-29 in their last 42 overall. Cincinnati is 3-7 in their last 10 in game three of a series.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably try the Rays in this one. It’ll be interesting to see what Stoudt can do in his debut, though. Rasmussen needs a good bounce-back start, though. In his last outing versus Toronto, Rasmussen posted a road loss with five earned on eight hits and four walks in 4.1 frames. His previous two starts were both great, though. On Tuesday Tampa Bay unleashed four home runs and a triple in an excellent offensive night. This one’s probably not going to have so many fireworks but I think the Rays will be in solid shape.
