The Tampa Bay Rays (36-19, 1st in AL East) go for two in a row over the New York Mets (24-30, 4th in NL East) Tuesday at Citi Field. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Rays-Mets betting odds and lines, with MLB picks and best bets.
Rays at Mets: Projected starting pitchers
LHP Blake Snell vs. RHP Seth Lugo
Snell: 4-1, 10 starts, 3.05 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 44 1/3 IP
- Has pitched between 5 and 5 2/3 innings in each of his last 7 starts after being capped at 3 innings in each of his first 3 outings. Has topped 100 pitches just twice.
- Didn’t allow a home run in either of his past two outings after a stretch of 6 home runs allowed over 4 games.
Lugo: 2-3, 14 games (5 starts), 4.34 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 12.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 29 IP
- Has an ERA of 5.30 through 5 starts spanning 18 2/3 innings compared to a rate of 2.61 in his 9 relief appearances covering 10 1/3 innings.
- Gave up 6 earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in his most recent outing.
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Rays at Mets: Key injuries
(Get the latest injury news here.)
Rays
- 1B Ji-Man Choi (hamstring) out
- 3B Yandy Diaz (hamstring) out
- OF Austin Meadows (oblique) out
Mets
- RP Dellin Betances (back) out
- OF Michael Conforto (hamstring) questionable
- OF Jake Marisnick (hamstring) out
Rays at Mets: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 9:13 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Rays 4, Mets 2
Money line (ML)
The RAYS (-134) won Monday’s series opener 2-1 for their fifth win in their last six games. The Mets (+120) have dropped two in a row and six of nine.
Tampa Bay used RHP Pete Fairbanks as a starter Monday with five other relievers pitching at least a full inning in the win. They managed to score twice against Mets starter Jacob deGrom in seven innings. The Rays will now have the pitching advantage Tuesday with one-time Cy Young winner Snell on the mound.
Take the RAYS (-134) to secure the series win.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Rays to win returns a profit of $7.46.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
Get some extra value on Tampa Bay with the RAYS’ -1.5 (+120) run line. Each of Rays’ last 5 wins with Snell on the bump was by a multi-run margin with just two losses in that time.
The Mets are 2-3 in games started by Lugo with two of those losses coming by a multi-run gap.
Over/Under (O/U)
Lean to the UNDER 7.5 (-110) after the two teams combined for just 3 runs Monday, and with Snell starting for the Rays.
Three of the Rays’ last four games played to a 2-1 final score. The Mets were held to 2 or fewer runs in three of their last four games.
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