New York Mets vs Tampa Bay Rays Betting Pick & Prediction 5/3/24

At 6:50 PM from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, we have an interleague matchup between the Mets and Rays. Heading into Friday’s game, the Mets are 16-15, while the Rays are 14-18. Television coverage is being handled by SNY.

New York is starting Jose Quintana, and he is facing off against Aaron Civale for the Rays. The over/under line is at 8 runs, and the Rays are the favorite at -134 on the money line. Looking at the odds for a Mets win, they are sitting at +113.

TAMPA BAY RAYS VS NEW YORK METS BETTING PICK

The Pick: Tampa Bay Rays Moneyline -134

This game will be played at Tropicana Field at 6:50 ET on Friday, May 3rd.

HOW TO BET THE METS VS RAYS:

• We have the Rays winning by a score of 5 to 4
• However, if you’re looking for a run line pick, we like the Mets to cover
• As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 9 runs and like the over

Mets Records & Stats

New York is coming off a game in which they needed extra innings to pick up the 7-6 win over the Cubs. This was especially big, as it was the Mets’ third straight win, and it moved them into first place in the NL East. Going into the game, the Mets were the slight favorite at -115 on the money line.

Adrian Houser had a rough outing, giving up four earned runs on four hits and issuing four walks. The Mets’s offense was carried by Francisco Lindor, who went 2/3 with a double, four RBIs, and a run scored. The Mets also had three players with two hits.

The Mets are 16-15 overall and trail the Braves by five games in the NL East. New York will be on the road today, taking on the Rays. This season, the Mets have gone 7-5 on the road compared to 9-10 at home. The Mets’ record in the division is 2-1 this year.

As the underdog, the Mets have dropped five straight games, and they are 6-7 as the underdog overall. New York is 10-8 when favored this year, and they are 5-4-1 in series so far. Looking back, the Mets split their series with the Cubs, going 2-2.

The Mets have been a solid run line bet this season, going 16-15 overall. They have been especially profitable on the road, where they are 8-4 against the run line. Their average run margin for the season is +0.2, but that number jumps to +0.7 when they are away from home. They have been a better run line bet as the underdog, going 8-5 compared to 8-10 as the favorite.

The New York Mets have played 31 games this season, and their over/under record is 15-16. The average over/under line for their games is 8 runs, and the combined run average in their games is 8.5 runs. In their last game, they combined with the Cubs for 13 runs, which was over the 8-run line.

Jose Quintana gets the start for the Mets today as he faces the Rays on the road. So far, he has made six starts and has a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 3.48. Quintana’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.34. In his last outing, he finished with a no-decision, going eight innings and giving up just one earned run. Before that, he had given up at least three earned runs in three straight outings. The left-hander has allowed a total of three homers this season. Per nine innings, Quintana has 6.15 strikeouts and 4.01 walks.

So far this season, the Mets offense has been a better team on the road, averaging 5.6 runs per game, which is the 3rd best mark in the league. Overall, they are averaging 4.4 runs per contest, which is 17th in the league. As a team, the Mets are batting .237, which is 13th in the league, and they are also one of the league’s best teams at avoiding strikeouts.

Starling Marte has been a solid addition to the Mets lineup so far, hitting .274 with four homers. Pete Alonso is 3rd in the league with eight homers, but he is batting just .218 for the season. However, Alonso has gone 6/36 over his last 10 games. Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo are also near the top of the Mets’ home run leaderboard.

Rays Records & Stats

The Rays will be looking to get back on track after closing out their series vs. the Brewers with a 7-1 loss. Tampa Bay was actually the slight favorite on the money line going into the game but fell behind big early, as the Brewers scored four times in the third.

Zach Eflin took the loss for the Rays, going 5 2/3 innings and giving up three earned runs on six hits. He only had one strikeout in the outing and issued the Rays’ only walk. Tampa Bay’s offense scored their only run in the 8th and was a Richie Palacios single.

The Rays will host the Mets today with an overall record of 14-18, which has them 5th in the AL East. Currently, they trail the Orioles by 6.5 games in the division and are 3-4 in AL East games. Tampa Bay lost the final two games of their series vs. the Brewers, dropping two straight as they are 2-8 over their last 10 games.

At home, the Rays are 8-9 this year compared to a 6-9 mark on the road. So far, they have really struggled as the favorite, going 10-14, and they have dropped six straight games as the favorite. Tampa Bay’s overall series record is 3-5-2, and they have lost four straight series.

Despite being favored in 24 of their 32 games, the Rays have gone just 6-18 against the run line in those contests. They have struggled to cover the run line at home, going 5-12, and have gone 6-9 against the run line on the road. Tampa Bay has a run differential of -1.3 runs per game on the season, but that number jumps to -4.2 runs per game in their losses.

So far this season, the Rays have played 32 games with an average combined run total of 8.8. Their over/under record is 18-14, and the average over/under line for their games is 9. When the over/under line has been set at 8, the over/under record is 5-2. Overall, 59.4% of their games have had higher over/under lines than 8.

Aaron Civale gets the start for the Rays today and will be looking to bounce back from a rough outing vs. the White Sox. In that start, he went 4 1/3 innings, giving up six earned runs, and three homers. He finished with a no-decision in the outing. Looking back further, Civale has made three straight starts without giving up a homer before the White Sox outing. His ERA for the season is 5.06, along with a record of 2-2. Opponents are batting .250 this season off Civale. So far, he has made three quality starts and is averaging 9.56 strikeouts per nine innings.

Heading into today’s game, the Rays are 23rd in the league in runs scored, averaging just 3.8 runs per game. This is also their home/road splits for the season. Tampa Bay has been a below-average home run hitting team and are also near the bottom of the league in terms of team slugging percentage and isolated power.

Isaac Paredes has been on a tear for the Rays, as he is batting .291 for the season and has gone 7/22 in his last five games. He is also on a three-game hitting streak. Paredes is also leading the team with seven homers and 17 RBIs. Richie Palacios has also been swinging a hot bat of late, going 8/18 in his last six games, and is batting .310 for the season.