Seattle Mariners vs. Tampa Bay Rays Best Bet: Can the Mariners Bounce Back at Home?
Seattle Mariners vs. Tampa Bay Rays Best Bet: Can the Mariners Bounce Back at Home?
The Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners will face off again from T-Mobile Park tonight at 9:40 ET after the Rays took the first game of the series 4-3. The Rays have won three of the four head-to-head meetings so far this year, including the last three. Can the Mariners bounce back at home behind their strongest arm?
Mariners vs. Rays Start Time and Where to Watch
- Date: May 6, 2022
- Game Time: 9:40 pm ET
- Where to Watch: Apple TV+
Seattle Mariners vs Tampa Bay Rays Line Movement
Seattle Mariners vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction
Logan Gilbert has been dominant, to say the least. Gilbert works heavily behind his four-seam fastball, which he throws 57% of the time, mixing in his slider 24% of the time. His fastball clocks in at 95.3 mph on average, and his curveball comes in at 79 mph for a 16 mph difference, which throws off the batter's eye. Baseball Savant has two of 2022's comparable pitchers to Gilbert as Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. So yeah, the kid is good. It's only his second season, but it looks like Gilbert is on pace for a Cy Young nomination at this point.
He is first overall in the MLB with a .64 over his 28 innings pitched so far this season. He has given up two runs over five starts. He also has a start against the Rays this year, where he went 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up only two hits, on the road as well. There's almost nothing negative to say about his this season so far, and the Mariners are 5-0 when he starts this season and have won nine straight with Gilbert starting dating back through last season.
The Mariners bats are also more alive at home. The Mariners are 7-3 at home compared to 5-11 on the road. The Mariners are currently batting .266 at home with .808 OPS compared to .204 on the road with a .610 OPS, so the run support should be there for Gilbert tonight.
It appears the Rays will be going with a bullpen game tonight by starting Matt Wisler on the mound. Wisler has averaged 1.1 innings per outing, and the Rays are in a tough spot with so many injuries to their pitching staff. The Rays have at least eleven pitchers on the injury report right now and have needed to minimize bullpen usage lately. It's tough to say who will follow Wisler after his inning or two of work, but bullpen games usually go really well or horrible with no in-between. That being said, this bet is more backing Gilbert to be dominant as well as the Mariners giving him good run support, especially at home.
It's also supposed to be a cold night in Seattle, so we could be in for a low-scoring affair, in which I like the home team, who had only lost two home games before last night's hiccup. They only lost by one run in a disadvantageous pitching matchup last night, so with their best arm out there tonight (and the lowest ERA in the league currently), I like the Mariners to bounce back.
Seattle Mariners vs Tampa Bay Rays Pick
Pick: Mariners ML @ -130 (Bet $130 to win $100)
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Article Author
Ben Rajavuori is a handicapper out of Minneapolis, MN. He has been creating sports content for almost four years now and is an expert in all things NFL, MLB, NBA, UFC, and NCAAB. Ben thrives on diving deep into statistics to find the best angle on every bet. You can follow him on Twitter @WeBeatTheSpread.