Heading into game three of this American League matchup, the Guardians (66-70, 35-33 home) will send Xzavion Curry to the mound against the Rays (82-54, 37-31 away) and Taj Bradley. Check out my pick for today’s Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians game in Cleveland.

TAMPA BAY RAYS VS CLEVELAND GUARDIANS BETTING PICK

The Pick: Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 Runs

This game will be played at Progressive Field at 4:10 ET on Sunday, September 3rd.

WHY BET THE TAMPA BAY RAYS:

  • In their last ten games, the Rays have gone 6-4 vs. the runline.
  • The Rays have put together a 3-2 record vs. the runline in their last five games as the favorite.
  • Opponents are hitting a healthy .500 against Xzavion Curry in his last two starts.

TAMPA BAY RAYS TRYING TO CLOSE GAP IN AL EAST

Tampa Bay’s overall record currently stands at 82-54, placing them 2nd in the AL East. The Rays will look to extend their current series winning streak to 45 and have an overall series record of 26-12-6. At home, Tampa Bay is 45-23 and 37-31 on the road.

Today marks Taj Bradley’s seventeenth outing of the 2023 season, and his record stands at 5-7. His ERA is 5.67, with an OBP allowed of .318, and he has struck out 99 batters thus far with a WHIP of 1.41. On the road, Bradley’s ERA is 6.41 compared to 6.25 at home.

Taj Bradley’s most recent start ended in a 17-4 loss to the Astros. The Rays’ pitcher surrendered five runs on three hits over 3 1/3 innings of work.

Having gone deep 7 times in their last five games, the Rays are 6th in that span. At 5.3 runs per game, Tampa Bay is 4th in the league. This figure has come on a team batting average of .259 while hitting a total of 197 home runs (3rd).

Randy Arozarena has been one of the Tampa Bay Rays’ most productive hitters in 2023. The outfielder is batting .261 with 77 RBIs and 21 home runs on the year.

WILL THE CLEVELAND GUARDIANS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AT HOME?

The Guardians enter today’s game with an overall record of 66-70, including putting together an above .500 mark at home (35-33). This year, Cleveland has played in 43 series and have gone 18-21-4. Currently, they are 2nd in the AL Central.

Xzavion Curry has made 33 appearances for the Guardians this season, with an overall record of 3-3. His ERA stands at 4.10, and he has a K/9 rate of 6.27. Curry’s FIP is 4.26 and his OBP is .299.

Xzavion Curry will attempt to recover from a truncated performance against the Twins. The Guardians were defeated 10-6, and Curry yielded six runs in two innings of action.

Across their last five games, the Guardians’ offense is 10th in batting average, leading to an average of 5 runs per contest in that span. Overall, they are the 23rd ranked scoring offense and posted a season-long OPS of .691 on 104 (28th). On average, they have struckout 7 times per game compard to 2.8 walks.

Gabriel Arias has been a key contributor to the Cleveland offense this season, boasting a .219 batting average and .372 slugging percentage. Over the last ten games, he has been particularly impressive, leading the team in hits with a .363 batting average.