One of the biggest mismatches on paper in Thursday’s MLB slate is the 20-5 Rays taking on the White Sox who are mired in a 7-game losing streak with rumors swirling of firing rookie manager Pedro Grifol less than 30 games into his MLB tenure. Seasoned bettors know that these are the types of games that can burn you, but it’s also hard to justify a wager on Chicago right now.
Before Betting on Rays vs White Sox
Tampa Bay proved they are human this past week, losing two games at home (their first two defeats at Tropicana Field) to the Astros in 5-0 and 1-0 shutouts. Thursday’s visit to Chicago will be a pitching duel according to offshore odds as low as 7 for the O/U, and the Rays not scoring a run the last two games does bode well for Sox starter Dylan Cease (2-0, 2.73 ERA).
Cease – along with Luis Robert’s defense – has been one of the few bright spots for this Chicago team that is just 7-18 to start the season. The right hander gave up 5 ER total over his first four starts of the season, but did get touched for 3 ER over just 4.0 IP against these Rays last Saturday.
The Rays swept Chicago last weekend at Tropicana Field with one of those victories being a mixed results outing from ace Shane McClanahan who gave up 2 HRs but also struck out 10. The good news for McClanahan was that both of those HRs were solo to keep his streak of allowing 2 ER or less alive to begin the season.
Tampa Bay vs Chicago MLB Offshore Betting Odds
| Offshore Sportsbook | Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | Rays (1.69) | White Sox (2.33) | 7.5 | Rays -1.5 (2.15) | White Sox +1.5 (1.74) |
| Bovada | Rays (1.67) | White Sox (2.26) | 7.5 | Rays -1.5 (2.15) | White Sox +1.5 (1.74) |
| BetUS | Rays (1.67) | White Sox (2.35) | 7.5 | Rays -1.5 (2.15) | White Sox +1.5 (1.74) |
| SportsBetting.ag | Rays (1.69) | White Sox (2.33) | 7.5 | Rays -1.5 (2.15) | White Sox +1.5 (1.74) |
| Pinnacle | Rays (1.69) | White Sox (2.32) | 8 | Rays -1.5 (2.22) | White Sox +1.5 (1.74) |
| MyBookie | Rays (1.65) | White Sox (2.25) | 7 | Rays -1.5 (2.16) | White Sox +1.5 (1.70) |
Rays vs White Sox Prediction & Pick
Is this the game where the White Sox break their losing streak? It wouldn’t seem likely and it’s hard to back this completely dysfunctional team right now but these are also the types of ‘easy’ games to avoid. McClanahan vs. Cease should be a duel, and with these teams tallying a whopping zero runs their last four combined games the ‘under’ is the play especially as high as 8 at Pinnacle.
