The Tampa Bay Rays (5-5) start a 3-game interleague set with the Chicago Cubs (5-4) Monday at Wrigley Field with the first pitch scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze Tipico Sportsbook‘s lines around the Rays vs. Cubs odds with MLB picks and predictions.
It’s the first meeting between the teams since the 2017 season and only the 14th time they’ve played. The Rays lead the series 8-5
Tampa snapped a 4-game losing skid and prevented a 3-game series sweep by beating the White Sox 9-3 Sunday in Chicago.
The Cubs split their 4-game road set at the Colorado Rockies by winning 6-4 Sunday. Chicago outscored Colorado 22-21 in the series.
Rays at Cubs: Projected starters
LHP Shane McClanahan vs. RHP Kyle Hendricks
McClanahan (0-1, 3.00 ERA) took the loss Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics, going 4 2/3 IP, allowing 3 ER on 2 H and 3 BB with 8 K. He was the Rays’ Opening Day starter, pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings in a no-decision with 7 K and 2 BB in Tampa’s 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
- Career road splits: 3-3 with a 3.36 ERA (59 IP, 22 ER), 1.20 WHIP and 9.3 K/9 in 12 starts.
Hendricks (0-1, 7.00) was shelled in his previous outing — a 6-2 loss at the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday — surrendering 6 ER on 7 H and 4 BB with 4 K in 3 2/3 IP. Hendricks earned a no-decision in Chicago’s 5-4 Opening Day victory versus the Milwaukee Brewers.
- Career home splits: 42-25 with a 2.93 ERA (635 2/3 IP, 207 ER), 1.08 WHIP and 7.6 K/9 in 104 starts and 1 relief appearance.
Rays at Cubs odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2:07 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Rays -155 (bet $100 to win $155) | Cubs +125 (bet $100 to win $125)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Rays -1.5 (+110) | Cubs +1.5 (-135)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: +102 | U: -122)
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Rays at Cubs prediction and picks
Prediction
Rays 5, Cubs 3
Money line
BET the RAYS (-155) because this is a fair price for a Tampa team that has an edge in the 3 most important phases of baseball (starting and relief pitching and hitting) and the Rays have been much better in interleague play record than the Cubs (+125).
McClanahan is at the top of a Tampa rotation that should be a factor come October whereas Hendricks is more of a middle-of-the-rotation starter at this point in his career and typically gets off to a slow start.
April is Hendricks’ worst month by ERA, FIP, hard-hit rate, WHIP and home runs allowed per 9 innings, according to FanGraphs.
Since the start of last season, the Rays are 15-5 versus NL teams and the Cubs are 6-14 against AL teams. In fact, Tampa has the best winning percentage in interleague play since the beginning of 2019 at 44-22.
BET the RAYS (-155).
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Run line/Against the spread
PASS because the Rays -1.5 (+110) just isn’t a steep enough payout and we are spending for a costly Tampa ML.
Also, Chicago’s lineup has hit really well to start the season so the Cubs +1.5 (-135) could sneak in the backdoor despite Tampa’s strong relief pitching.
Over/Under
Slight LEAN to the UNDER 8.5 (-122), if at all, because the Rays have gone Under the total in 18 of McClanahan’s 25 career starts and Hendricks’ home ERA is nearly a full run lower than his road ERA over his career.
However, it’s only a LEAN to the UNDER 8.5 (-122) because most of the market is on the Under and I hate following the herd in sports betting and the weather forecast is predicting 17 mph winds blowing out to right-center field.
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