San Diego Padres vs Tampa Bay Rays Betting Pick & Prediction 8/31/24
From Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, we have the Padres and Rays facing off in an interleague matchup. First pitch is set for 4:10 PM ET, and the Padres are favored on the money line (-122). The Rays have lost two straight and their money line odds are sitting at +104.
Both of Saturday’s starting pitchers are rookies, with Randy Vasquez going for the Padres and Shane Baz for the Rays. San Diego is currently 3rd in the NL West, while the Rays are 4th in the AL East. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs.
SAN DIEGO PADRES VS TAMPA BAY RAYS BETTING PICK
The Pick: San Diego Padres Moneyline +104
This game will be played at Tropicana Field at 4:10 ET on Saturday, August 31st.
HOW TO BET THE PADRES VS RAYS:
- We have the Padres winning by a score of 6 to 4
- If you’re looking for a run line pick, we also like the Padres to cover
- As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 10 runs and like the over
San Diego cruised to a 13-5 win over the Rays in the most recent game of this series. The Padres had a huge 2nd inning, scoring four of their thirteen runs. As for the Rays, they scored their final run in the 8th inning. Heading into the game, the Padres were at +105 on the money line.
Tampa Bay wasted a good outing from Taj Bradley, as he gave up just two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work. Martin Perez struggled on the mound for the Padres but still got the win, going five innings and giving up four earned runs.
Manny Machado and David Peralta each homered for the Padres, while Xander Bogaerts scored twice and drove in two runs while going 1/3. Jake Cronenworth also had a two-hit game and scored twice.
Padres Records & Stats
San Diego is 77-60 overall this season, and they are five games behind the Dodgers for the NL West lead. The Padres are 20-20 in divisional games this year. San Diego is on the road today, and they have gone 40-28 away from home.
The Padres have been good as the underdog this year, putting up a record of 29-23 in those games. As the favorite, San Diego is 48-37 this season. They have an overall series record of 26-14-5, and they are currently up 1-0 in their series vs. the Rays.
San Diego has been a solid run line bet on the road, going 44-24, but they have been a poor run line bet at home, going 27-42. They have an overall run line record of 71-66. They have been a good run line bet as the underdog, going 36-16, but a poor run line bet as the favorite, going 35-50. Their average run margin in winning games is 3.7, while their average run margin in losing games is -3.5.
San Diego Padres games have gone over the total 74 times and under 62 times this season. The average over/under line for their games is 8 runs, and when the line is set at 8 runs, their over/under record is 11-11-1. Overall, 58 of their games have had over/under lines set above 8 runs, while 56 games have had lines set below 8 runs.
Randy Vásquez gets the start for the Padres today as he faces the Rays on the road. So far this season, he has made 18 starts and has a record of 4-6. Vásquez’s ERA for the season is 4.52, along with a WHIP of 1.49. In his last outing, he picked up the win, going six innings and giving up two earned runs on six hits. Before that, he had gone three straight outings without a win. Vásquez has a batting average allowed of .294 and has given up a total of 12 homers this season.
San Diego’s offense has been one of the league’s best this season, as they are the top hitting team in the league and are averaging 4.8 runs per game. The Padres have been even better on the road, averaging 5.1 runs per contest. Not only are the Padres the top hitting team in the league, but they also have the fewest strikeouts in the league.
Manny Machado has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 13/34 in his last eight games with three homers and 10 RBIs. For the season, Machado is batting .274 with 23 homers and 83 RBIs. Jurickson Profar is 2nd on the team with 21 homers and has driven in 80 runs so far this season.
Rays Records & Stats
The Rays are 66-68 overall, putting them 4th in the AL East, and they trail the Yankees by 12.5 games for the division lead. So far, they have gone just 17-23 in AL East matchups. They are also coming off a loss in the series opener vs. the Padres and have dropped two straight games overall.
At home, the Rays are 34-35 this season compared to a 32-33 mark on the road. As the favorite, the Rays are 33-30 this season and 33-38 as the underdog. Tampa Bay’s overall series record is 21-17-5, but they have dropped two straight series.
When the Rays are favored, they are a run line bet to avoid, but as an underdog, they are a run line bet to consider. They have a losing run line record at home, but a winning run line record on the road. Their average run differential is -0.5 runs per game.
The Tampa Bay Rays are at home today against the San Diego Padres. The over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs, which is right around the combined average runs per game for these two teams this season. The Rays have played 128 games this season, and 45 of them have had over/under lines set higher than 8 runs, which is 33.6% of their games. Their over/under record for the season is 60-68, and when the line is set at 8 runs, they are 13-18-1. They have hit the over in their last two games.
Shane Baz has made eight starts this season and has a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 3.48. In his 44 innings of work, Baz has issued 17 walks compared to 36 strikeouts. Looking back at his last outing, Baz was fantastic, going 7 2/3 innings and not giving up a run. He only allowed three hits in that outing. Before that, he had given up at least two earned runs in three straight outings. Baz has made four quality starts this year. The right-hander has a WHIP of 1.32 for the season.
So far this season, the Rays are averaging just 3.8 runs per game, which is 28th in the majors. They have been even worse at home, averaging just 3.7 runs per game. As a team, they are batting just .230 and have the 22nd ranked home run total in the league.
Yandy Diaz has been the Rays’ most consistent hitter this season, batting .276 with 12 home runs and a team-high 59 RBIs. Over his last eight games, he has gone 9/31 with two homers. Jose Siri and Christopher Morel are also near the top of the home run leaderboard, but both are batting under .200 for the season. Siri has gone 4/18 in his last five games with two homers.