Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/29/2023

Game Time: 7:15 pm ET, Saturday, July 29, 2023

Venue:  Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX

Where to Watch:  FOX

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Rays +125, Astros -145; Over/Under:  8 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Rays +125, Astros -145; Over/Under:  8 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Rays +125, Astros -145; Over/Under:  8 runs

Tampa Bay Rays:  62-43 (2nd place, AL East)

Houston Astros:  58-45 (2nd place, AL West)

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Tampa Bay Rays:  2-8 last 10

Houston Astros:  7-3 last 10

The Rays are entering this series off a loss and split their 2-game series against the Miami Marlins 1-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 62-43 record overall and have a road record of 25-24. This is the 2nd game of a 3-game series with the Astros on Saturday with the series opener of this series still to be played on Friday. Their offense ranks 5th in the MLB with a .771 OPS. Shane McClanahan is their starting pitcher on Friday while rookie pitcher Taj Bradley is making his start in this game on Saturday. He is 5-6 with a 5.30 ERA this season. His team lost their last 5 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 3 ER, 1 HR, and 1 BB with 6 Ks on 5 hits through 5 IP against the Baltimore Orioles.

The Astros are entering this series off a loss but won their 3-game series against the Texas Rangers 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 58-45 record overall and have a home record of 27-23. This is the 2nd game of a 3-game series with the Rays on Saturday with the 1st game of this series still to be played on Friday. Their offense ranks 15th in the MLB with a .730 OPS. Cristian Javier is their starting pitcher on Friday while Hunter Brown is making his start in this game on Saturday. He is 6-7 with a 4.19 ERA this season. His team lost 3 of their last 4 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 2 earned runs, 1 homer, and 2 BB with 4 strikeouts on 6 hits through 6 innings played against the Oakland Athletics.

The current betting odds have the Astros listed as a favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Astros have been starting to roll lately after their slow start to the year. Their offense has been putting up a lot more runs in their games lately and their pitching staff has been solid all season. They are looking to chase down the Rangers for 1st place in the AL West and are hot on their tail right now and they can definitely take advantage of this home series against the Rays. The Rays have been struggling a lot lately, they still have one of the best records in the entire MLB and an offense that has been putting up a ton of runs all year, but lately they have been in a big slump as their offense hasn't been producing and they have been losing a lot of their games as a result. They are sliding down the standings right now while the Astros are surging up their division and as good as the Rays have been all season, they have still been very pedestrian in their road games. They also have their rookie Bradley on the mound here and he hasn't been great in his starts lately, giving up even more runs in his road starts this year. The Astros will take advantage of the way Bradley has been pitching lately and the Rays offense will struggle to compete here, especially when Brown is on the mound and he has been pitching really well in his starts lately. Brown hasn't been giving up many runs lately and has also been a lot better in his home starts. The Astros have the better pitching matchup in this game along with the hotter offense right now and they will take advantage here. The best way to place a bet here is on the Astros to win this game.

Rays Astros Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Saturday, July 29, 2023 (7:15 pm ET start time) is Astros 4 Rays 2.

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Tampa Bay Rays: 4-11 (-6.4 units) on the moneyline as a road underdog of +100 or higher. 25-24 (-5.2 units) on the moneyline in road games. 13-7 UNDER in July games. TAJ BRADLEY is 3-1 UNDER in July games.

Houston Astros: 63-36 (+8.5 units) on the moneyline as a home favorite of -125 to -175. 136-86 (+15.8 units) on the moneyline when the total is 8 to 8.5. 6-3 UNDER against AL East opponents. HUNTER BROWN is 8-3 UNDER when the total is 8 to 8.5.

Tampa Bay Rays:  Z. Eflin (SP) Ques Tues - Knee. Y. Diaz (3B) Ques Fri - Groin. T. Walls (SS) Out indefinitely - Oblique. J. Fleming (SP) Early Aug - Elbow. F. Mejia (C) Early Sept - Knee. D. Rasmussen (RP) out for season - Elbow. A. Kittredge (RP) Early Aug - Elbow. G. Cleavinger (RP) out for season - Knee. J. Springs (RP) out for season - Elbow. S. Baz (SP) out for season - Elbow.

Houston Astros:  J. Urquidy (SP) Early Aug - Shoulder. M. Brantley (DH) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. L. McCullers Jr. (SP) out for season - Elbow. L. Garcia (SP) out for season - Elbow.

“Really, really good stuff. Very challenging for us today at the plate. He did mix well. Kept us off balance. We just didn't hit that many balls hard.” - Kevin Cash after his team’s loss against the Marlins in their game on Wednesday.

“He couldn’t get his breaking ball over and his fastball was up and away in the zone. He just couldn’t get the ball down.” - Dusty Baker after his team’s loss against the Rangers in their game on Wednesday.

Brandon Lowe (L) 2B

Wander Franco (S) SS

Randy Arozarena (R) LF

Luke Raley (L) 1B

Isaac Paredes (R) 3B

Harold Ramirez (R) DH

Josh Lowe (L) RF

Jose Siri (R) CF

Christian Bethancourt (R) C

Jose Altuve (R) 2B

Jeremy Pena (R) SS

Kyle Tucker (L) RF

Alex Bregman (R) 3B

Yordan Alvarez (L) DH

Jose Abreu (R) 1B

Chas McCormick (R) CF

Corey Julks (R) LF

Martin Maldonado (R) C

Batting Average:  Yandy Diaz (.318)

Hits:  Yandy Diaz (104)

Home Runs:  Jose Siri (20)

RBI:  Randy Arozarena (62)

Stolen Bases:  Wander Franco (28)

Wins:  Shane McClanahan (11)

Saves:  Pete Fairbanks (12)

ERA:  Chase Anderson (0.00)

Batting Average:  Kyle Tucker (.304)

Hits:  Kyle Tucker (111)

Home Runs:  Kyle Tucker (18)

RBI:  Kyle Tucker (69)

Stolen Bases:  Kyle Tucker (19)

Wins:  Framber Valdez (8)

Saves:  Ryan Pressly (24)

ERA:  Hector Neris (1.44)

Managers:

Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash (9th season)

Houston Astros: Dusty Baker (4th season)