Major League Baseball on Tuesday night and I will have a Free Pick in the game between the Washington Nationals and the Tampa Bay Rays, which will be played at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
Nationals +115
Rays -125
Over/ Under: 7.5 U -125
This is game 2 of a 4 game series between these Interleague League foes. The Rays got a big game from Erasmo Ramirez, who helped the Rays to the 6-1 victory over the Nationals by pitching 6 innings of shutout ball, before the pen cleaned up the rest. The Rays have now won 4 games in a row and have taken back first place in the AL East by 1 game over the Yankees. The Nats are heading the other way as they have won just 6 of their last 18 games and have now fallen 1.5 games back of the Mets for first place in the NL East. The Nats rank 11th in scoring (4.27 rpg), while on the mound they are 18th in ERA (3.96). The Rays rank 26th in scoring (3.72 rpg), while on the mound they are 3rd in ERA (3.26).
Trend for this game include: The Nats have gone 25-9 in their last 34 road games vs. a team with a winning home record, but just 17-38 in their last 55 interleague games as an underdog and 1-5 in Roark's last 6 interleague starts. Tampa Bay has gone 9-2 in their last 11 games as a home favorite of -110 to -150 and 9-3 in their last 12 interleague games vs. a right-handed starter, but just 1-5 in Colome's last 6 starts with the total set at 7.0-8.5.
Getting the ball for Washington tonight will be Tanner Roark, who has spent much of the year in the pen, but he is 2-0 with a 4.63 ERA in his 4 starts this year. Tanner has yet to face the Rays in his career.
Taking the hill for the Rays tonight will be Alex Colome, who is 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 9 starts this year, while at home he has gone 1-1 with a 4.57 ERA. Alex has never faced the Nationals in his career.
Pick: I will look to the over in this game. Neither starter has been very good this and in fact we have two starters that have winning records, but also have ERA's north of 4.00. Last night the Rays put up 6 runs and I expect them to get at least 4 here, while a good Washington offense should also put up some runs on Colome, who is just not all that good. The Over is 10-1-1 in Washington's last 12 interleague games as an underdog of +110 to +150, while the Over is also 4-0 in Colome's last 4 starts as a favorite. I see at least 9 runs in this game.
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