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The Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Angels square off on Monday with first pitch set for 9:38 p.m. EST. The game takes place at Angels Stadium of Anaheim, and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Jeffrey Springs will be making just his second start of the season for Tampa Bay while Noah Syndergaard will be tossing for LAA.
The Rays are playing well, winning seven of their last 10 games. They just had a six-game win streak snapped on Sunday in a tight loss to the Seattle Mariners. Still, the team has played well outside of the confines of Tropicana Field, boasting a 9-4 record away from home this season. Springs hasn’t tossed much this season, throwing just 13 innings since the start of the campaign, the vast majority of which normally coming out of the bullpen. This will be just his second start and it’s not likely he goes deep, the longest he’s been out there this season was a 3.1 inning relief performance last week. Still, even though he hasn’t had a ton of innings, he’s pitched well when he’s given the ball, allowing just one earned run and striking out 14. But the LAA lineup will be the toughest he’s seen this season.
The Angels sit atop the AL West and have been just as hot as the Rays recently, winning six of their last 10 contests. It seems like after years of mediocrity despite having the best player in the world, LAA has finally figured it out on the field. They should expect another solid performance Monday night with Thor on the hill. He’s been great since moving out west, allowing just seven earned runs in 24 innings. His strikeout number has been low, just 14 all season, but he’s getting outs and that's all that matters in the end.
Rays vs. Angels
Pitchers: Jeffery Springs vs. Noah Syndergaard
First pitch: 9:38 p.m. EST
Rays local broadcast: Bally Sports Sun
Angels local broadcast: Bally Sports West
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Moneyline odds: Rays +115, Angels -135
Picks & predictions
Moneyline pick: Angels -135
Despite the Rays coming off a six-game winning streak recently, it looks like they’re primed to start a losing streak on Monday. Springs is a solid pitcher in small increments, but if he has to face the LAA lineup more than once he’s in for trouble. Plus Thor is on the hill for the home team, so you know the Rays are going to struggle to get runs across the plate, at least until they get to the bullpen late in the game.
Player prop pick: Noah Syndergaard over 5.5 strikeouts (+125)
The Rays have the seventh most strikeouts in the league at 257 heading into tonight’s matchup. Syndergaard is averaging six innings per start this season and should have the juice to get at least six K’s tonight. Take the over.
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