Sunday afternoon baseball and we will see the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Cincinnati Reds in game 3 of their 3 game series from Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio. First pitch is scheduled for a 1:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on the MLB Network.
Current Odds
Tampa Bay +120
Cincinnati -140
Over/ Under: 8 U -125
Analysis: The Tampa Bay Rays come in at 7-5 ob the year and they have taken the first two in this series from the Reds. The Rays haven't done a whole lot at the plate in this series as they have scored just 3 total runs in the 2 games. The Rays have now averaged just just 3.33 rpg on the year, which is 25th in the league, while they hit just .226, which is 24th in the league. Matt Joyce is the leader in the early going in both hitting (.367) and HRs (2), although Evan Longoria has hit safely in 10 of the first 12 games and owns a team-high 15 hits overall. Pitching has not been an issue for this team as they come in ranked 4th in ERA (2.55) and 3rd in WHIP (1.10). Today it's Cesar Ramos who will be taking the hill for the Rays. Ramos hasn't made a start since 2012 and has thrown just 4 innings this year, allowing 1 ER and 2 hits in those innings.
For the Reds, they have taken a couple of heartbreaking losses, losing to these Rays by 2-1 and 1-0 scores in the first 2 games of the series. The loses now have the Reds at a surprising 3-8 overall, while they are also 1-4 at home. Like the Rays, the Reds are having many problems at the plate this year as they have scored just 2.55 rpg, which is dead last in the league. They also rank 27th in hitting (.219) and 22nd in homers (8). Jay Bruce leads the team in HRs with 2, but he is hitting just .158 overall, while Joey Votto has just 1 HR and 2 RBIs on the year so far. The Reds need those two to wake up a bit. The Reds have not had many issues on the mound, as they rank 10th in ERA (3.22) and 7th in WHIP (1.16). Tony Cingrani gets the ball today and he comes in with an 0-1 mark and a 2.45 ERA in 2 starts this year. He has allowed just 5 hits in the 11 innings he has pitched this year so far.
Pick: I will have to with the Under in the one. it's hard not to when you have two teams that are so very offensively challenged at the moment. The teams have combined for just 4 runs in this series so far, with the Reds scoring just 1 run and the Rays plating 3. The Rays will be sending Cesar Ramos to the mound and he has made just 3 starts in his career, but he is a solid pitcher that will be taking on the worst offense in the league. The Rays will probably have hit go just 5 innings and then after that they turn to their pen that has a 2.01 ERA on the year. Tony Cingrani allowed teams to hit just .199 off of him last year and so far he has allowed just 5 total hits in 11 innings of work. Tony also has a 2.82 ERA in day games in his career and in 14 appearances (10 starts) in this park he has a 2.63 ERA. He will be taking on the 25th ranked scoring offense and the 24th ranked hitting offense of the Rays. Very hard to see this one come close to 8 runs today.
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Handicapping Tips: Baseball Correlations
Steve Fezzik from Pregame.com gives some handicapping tips for betting runlines and correlated parlays in major league baseball.