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The Tampa Bay Rays take on the Oakland Athletics. Our MLB odds series has our Rays Athletics prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Rays Athletics.
The Oakland Athletics are 18-50, still at the bottom of the MLB standings. However, they're now just one game away from escaping last-place status in the sport. The Kansas City Royals are 18-48, having lost seven games in a row. Meanwhile, the A's have won six games in a row, a stunning run of short-term success no one could have reasonably anticipated. The A's won two games in Pittsburgh against the Pirates after dropping the opener of that three-game set. They swept the Milwaukee Brewers on the road over the past weekend. They flew home and, on Monday night, shocked the team with the best record in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays. These two teams are nearly 30 games apart in the standings, but Oakland grabbed a 4-3 win in the first game of this series. Tampa Bay flew all the way across the country to Oakland and looked sluggish in its first game of a long road trip in the West.
The A's are winning because everyone is getting into the act. In some of these wins over the past week, the A's are receiving great pitching. They limited the Milwaukee Brewers to three runs in 19 innings in a pair of wins this past Friday and Saturday in Wisconsin. They won a 2-1, 10-inning ballgame on Saturday, not allowing the “Manfred Man” runner on second base to score in the bottom of the 10th. In other games from this winning streak, the A's have unloaded with the bats. They scored 11 on the Pirates last Tuesday to start the streak. They scored eight against the Brewers this past Sunday to notch their first series sweep of the season. The A's don't have a lot of good players, but when any MLB team wins, it's usually because several different guys come alive and contribute.
Here are the Rays-Athletics MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Rays-Athletics Odds
Tampa Bay Rays: -1.5 (-134)
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (+112)
Over: 9 (-110)
Under: 9 (-110)
How To Watch Rays vs. Athletics
TV: Bally Sports Sun (Rays) / NBC Sports California (Athletics) / MLB Extra Innings
Stream: MLB.tv
Time: 9:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. PT
*Watch Rays-Athletics LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Rays Could Cover The Spread
The Oakland Athletics are still a very bad team, even with their six-game winning streak. The Rays are MLB's best team by far, sitting seven wins ahead of the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and Arizona Diamondbacks, the three teams which enter Tuesday night with 41 wins apiece. Should we read anything into Oakland's win on Monday in Game 1? No. Tampa Bay was jet-lagged after a very long flight across the country. Oakland was riding high after its sweep of Milwaukee. The Rays, after getting a chance to acclimate to the different time zone and find their sea legs, should be fully expected to regroup and put a thumping on Oakland. You might want to see if Rays -2.5 runs is available. You can probably get a plus-money price for that bet.
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
The A's are rolling. They're getting solid pitching, timely hitting, and more contributions from everyone in the batting order. A team which was 12-50 after 62 games was tired of losing. Now that the A's are winning, they don't want to let go of that wonderful feeling. That's a powerful motivator. Keep in mind that the A's won a series from the Atlanta Braves a few weeks ago. If they can win a series versus the Braves, they can win a series against the Rays and anyone else.
Final Rays-Athletics Prediction & Pick
The Oakland A's are hot, but the Rays are not going to lose back-to-back games to them in 2023. Tampa Bay will come roaring out of the blocks, build an early lead, and win by multiple runs.
Final Rays-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Rays -1.5
