The Tampa Bay Rays (55-28) and Arizona Diamondbacks (48-33) will go for the series victory on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. ET from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Rays are -120 moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, making the Diamondbacks +100 underdogs with the over/under set at 10.
Rays-Diamondbacks picks: Thursday, June 29
Injury report
Rays
Day to day: 2B Taylor Walls (back), RP Josh Fleming (elbow)
Out: 2B Brandon Lowe (back), SP Shane McClanahan (back), SP Drew Rasmussen (elbow), RP Garrett Cleavinger (knee), SP Jeffrey Springs (elbow), SP Shane Baz (elbow), RP Andrew Kittredge (elbow)
Diamondbacks
Day to day: RP Cole Sulser (shoulder)
Out: SP Merrill Kelly (calf), RP Mark Melancon (shoulder), RP Corbin Martin (lat)
Starting pitchers
Zack Littell vs. Brandon Pfaadt
Zack Littell (0-1, 6.57 ERA) will make his ninth appearance in his first season with the Rays, and this will be his first start of the year. He last pitched on Saturday and hasn’t reached three innings in a game this season. Yonny Chirinos (3-3, 3.91 ERA) is expected to eat up plenty of innings for Tampa Bay.
Brandon Pfaadt (0-2, 8.37 ERA) will make his sixth career start, which will be his first outing in more than a month. Pfaadt allowed at least five runs in three appearances this season looking for a much better performance in his second stint in the rotation.
Over/Under pick
Pfaadt allowed a ton of base runners over his five starts in the big leagues last time he was up, and this feels like a good spot for the offenses. Both teams rank inside the top five in runs per game, and they’re set up for an offensive explosion on Thursday afternoon.
Pick: Over 10
Moneyline pick
The offensive production is fairly equal, but the pitching edge goes to the side of Tampa Bay. It’s hard to know what we’ll be seeing from Pfaadt back on the major league roster, while Chirinos has been fairly solid this season.
Pick: Rays