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Carrie Stroup here with your Rays vs. Astros betting line for August 18.
TAMPA BAY RAYS (59-59) at HOUSTON ASTROS (64-55)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Tampa Bay +110, Houston -120, Total: 8.0
Tampa Bay currently sits 6.5 games back in the AL East and will need to really get hot in order to climb its way back into the playoff race. The Rays were fresh off of a three-game sweeping at the hands of the Rangers heading into Monday’s meeting with the Astros, but they were able to come away with a 9-2 victory after really hitting Scott Kazmir hard early on.
The Astros had won three of their previous four games before taking the loss on Monday. They’ll need to come away with a victory or two in this series if they want to keep their place at the top of the AL West standings.
Starting this game for the Rays will be RHP Jake Odorizzi (6-6, 3.09 ERA, 99 K) and he’ll be going up against RHP Scott Feldman (5-5, 4.17 ERA, 51 K) for the Astros. These teams have played each other four times this season and the Rays are 4-0 in those contests. Tampa Bay is also 6-2 when playing the Astros in Houston over the past three seasons. This Rays team is 32-21 against the money line after a game where their bullpen gave up no runs this season. The Astros, meanwhile, are an outstanding 35-14 against the money line after two or more consecutive home games this season.
OF Steven Souza (Hand) is out for the Rays in this game and OF George Springer (Wrist) is close to a return for the Astros, but won’t be playing in this one.
Odorizzi really struggled in his last appearance for Tampa Bay, allowing six earned runs on nine hits in just 6.0 innings of work. He had, however, allowed three or less runs in his previous five starts and should be able to turn things around in Houston on Tuesday. The last time he saw this team, the 25-year-old pitched 5.2 innings of shutout baseball and struck out five batters in the process.
One guy who will be a real x-factor for Tampa in this game is SS Asdrubal Cabrera (.268, 8 HRs, 32 RBIs). Cabrera went 2-for-4 with three RBIs on Monday and is now 11-for-22 over the past six games. He is also 4-for-7 in his career against Scott Feldman and could be in for a big game on Tuesday.
3B Evan Longoria (.277, 13 HRs, 54 RBIs) was 3-for-5 with two runs scored on Monday for the Rays. He is just 2-for-12 against Feldman in his career, but does have a homer and three RBIs in the matchup. He could really help his team if he is to get it going offensively in this one.
2B Tim Beckham (.227, 6 HRs, 25 RBIs) hit a three-run homer in Monday’s meeting with the Astros. Anything he can provide at the plate would be a big bonus for this team moving forward this season.
Feldman has really started to pitch well lately, allowing just two earned runs in his past 12.0 innings on the mound. He’s picked up three quality starts in his last four outings, but this will be his first time facing the Rays this season. Offensively, this team is going to need to figure out Odorizzi. He shut the Astros out in 5.2 innings of work the last time he pitched against them and Houston’s lineup as a whole is just 5-for-40 against the pitcher lifetime.
If the Astros are going to pick up a victory in this game then SS Carlos Correa (.286, 14 HRs, 38 RBIs) will need to step his game up. Correa hasn’t homered in the past nine games and has just two RBIs in that time. He is one of this team’s most reliable hitters and needs to make something happen at the plate on Tuesday. 2B Jose Altuve (.303, 9 HRs, 50 RBIs), meanwhile, is actually the team’s most reliable hitter. He’s now had a multi-hit performance in six of his past 10 games and the Astros could use another one against Tampa in this game.
DH Evan Gattis (.236, 18 HRs, 61 RBIs) could be an x-factor for Houston here. He homered on Monday and the Astros really need him to get hot moving forward. He is one of their only sources of power and this team can really use some firepower the rest of the season.
