Monday’s game between the Rays and the Athletics featured plenty of fireworks, as expected. The two squads combined to slug five home runs on the night, and the reign of terror from budding Rays superstar Junior Caminero continued.
Now they’ll run it back to cap off the Tuesday night slate in what should be an entertaining matchup between two scorching hot offenses. The Rays are a -111 moneyline favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 9.5 runs. Let’s dig into a preview, prediction and best bet for this Rays vs. Athletics game.
Rays vs. Athletics prediction, preview
Last night, the Rays and Athletics trotted out two solid pitchers with serious warts. The warts carried the day, as the two starters combined to surrender three home runs and eight earned runs over 9.2 innings. The matchup gets a lot more imbalanced tonight.
Shane Baz takes the mound for Tampa Bay. The former first-round pick and top prospect is smashing his career high in innings pitched, but with poor results. He has a 9.50 ERA over his last four turns on the mound, bringing his season ERA to 4.92. Baz hasn’t found a solid secondary pitch to complement his fastball; adding a cutter this year hasn’t quite panned out. It’s a disappointment after a promising 2024, and Tampa Bay’s pitching staff will a lot of work to do in the offseason.
His opposite, Jacob Lopez, gets to show his stuff against his former team. The 27-year-old southpaw has quietly been a revelation for the Athletics as a throw-in alongside Jeffrey Springs in an offseason deal. He’s got strikeout stuff despite a lack of velocity, generating a lot of swings and misses in the zone. Players struggle to square up his high-usage slider, and the results are showing. On a team struggling to find consistent starting pitching, Lopez has rocketed up the rebuild keeper rankings for their front office in the past months.
That edge on the mound will go a long way with two hot offenses at the dish. If Lopez can limit damage while Baz continues to get knocked around, I am confident in the Athletics’ chances tonight.
