The underdog Guardians are +104 on the money line for today's matchup vs. the Rays, who are 4th in the AL East with a record of 47-48. The money line odds have the Rays at -123, and the over/under line is sitting at 7.5 runs. Ben Lively is starting for the Guardians, and he is facing off against Ryan Pepiot.
First pitch from Tropicana Field is set for 1:40 PM ET, and BSGL will be televising this AL matchup. The Guardians are 1st in the AL Central with a record of 58-36.
Cleveland vs. Tampa Bay Matchup At A Glance
- Teams: Guardians at Rays
- Where: Tropicana Field St. Petersburg
- Date: Sunday, July 14th
- Betting Odds TB -123 | CLE +104 O/U 7.5
Guardians vs Rays Last Game Recap
Cleveland picked up a 4-2 road win over the Rays in the most recent game of this series. The Guardians offense got off to a fast start, scoring two runs in the first and adding two more in the 2nd. As for the Rays, they got on the board with one run in the 3rd and added their final run in the 5th.
Gavin Williams only went five innings for the Guardians but gave up just one run and three hits. He finished the game with two strikeouts but issued three walks. Nick Sandlin got the win out of the bullpen, and Emmanuel Clase got the save.
Zack Littell had a good outing for the Rays, going six innings and giving up one run on six hits. He finished the game with three strikeouts but issued two walks. Garrett Cleavinger took the loss.
Guardians Preview
Currently, Cleveland is 1st in the AL Central with a 58-36 record, holding a 4.5-game lead over the Twins. The Guardians are 15-13 against divisional opponents and have a 30-11 home record. Overall, their games have averaged 8.7 runs, with an over/under record of 47-41.
As underdogs, the Guardians are 16-16 straight up and 20-12 against the run line. Their series record is 20-8-2, and they are looking to take the series lead over the Rays today after going 5-5 in their last 10 games.
Cleveland is sending right-hander Ben Lively to the mound today as he faces the Rays on the road. Lively has made 15 starts this year and has a record of 8-4 with a 3.59 ERA. Looking at his overall numbers, Lively has a WHIP of 1.19 and opponents are batting .237 this year. One interesting note is that he has a record of 5-0 at home with a 2.56 ERA. On the road, his record is 3-4 with a 4.5 ERA. Lively's last outing came on July 9th, where he finished with a no-decision, giving up six hits, six earned runs, and one homer in 5 1/3 innings of work.
Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor have been a great 1-2 punch for the Guardians this season, as they are the team's top two home run hitters and are also the top two players in terms of RBIs. Ramirez comes into the game with a batting average of .274 and has gone 7/19 in his last five games. Naylor has gone just 3/23 in his last five games but has two homers in that stretch.
As a team, the Guardians are 8th in the league in scoring at 4.8 runs per game. They have been even better at home, averaging 5.1 runs per contest. Overall, they are batting .244, which is 11th in the MLB right now. Cleveland comes into the game with a team OPS of .725, which is 12th in the league.
Rays Preview
As the underdog, the Rays have a 25-18 run line record and a 20-23 straight-up record. On the road, they are 25-17 against the run line, while at home, they are 19-34. Tampa Bay's games have averaged 8.6 runs this season, and their over/under record is 45-45. The under has hit in their last two games, and their games with a 7.5 run total line have gone over 16 times out of 28.
Tampa Bay is 4th in the AL East with a 47-48 overall record, 10 games behind the Orioles. They have a 16-12-2 series record this season, and their overall record in the last 10 games is 4-6.
Ryan Pepiot gets the start for the Rays today and will be looking to build off his last outing, where he gave up just one earned run in 5 2/3 innings of work. In that outing, he picked up the win. Looking back over his last four starts, Pepiot has finished with a no-decision in three of them. He has made 16 starts this season and has a record of 5-5 with a 4.21 ERA. Opposing batters are hitting .203 off the right-hander this season. Pepiot has made five quality starts this year and is averaging 9.96 strikeouts per nine innings.
For the season, the Rays are averaging just 3.9 runs per game, which is 26th in the MLB. This is due in part to their team batting average of .236, which is just 16th in the league. Their team slugging percentage of .370 is also just 21st in the league. However, they do have a few hitters who have hit the ball well this season, including Isaac Paredes, who is batting .264 with 15 homers and Yandy Diaz, who is hitting .276 and has gone deep eight times.
Paredes has been the Rays most consistent power threat this season but has struggled of late, going just 5/32 in his last 10 games. Yandy Diaz is on a seven-game hitting streak and has gone deep twice in his last 10 games.
Guardians vs. Rays Prediction: Guardians ML +104
Our pick for this Guardians vs. Rays matchup is to take the Guardians on the money line, with the payout at +104. Our predicted final score is 5-4 in favor of the Guardians, and with the payout, we feel this is a good spot to take the Guardians to pick up the win.
Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Ryan Pepiot finishing with five strikeouts compared to Ben Lively with five as well. However, we have Pepiot going just five innings compared to Lively, who we have going six. Our projections have the Rays finishing with just eight hits compared to the Guardians with nine.
