Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians September 29 Betting Preview

After splitting the first two games of the series, the Cleveland Guardians (87-68) and Tampa Bay Rays (85-70) will battle in the finale of a three-game series on Thursday. The Guardians will host this one at Progressive Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 p.m.

On Wednesday, the Guardians were able to prevail 2-1 in 10 innings. After a stellar outing from Triston McKenzie, where he went six innings and allowed just one run, it was Amed Rosario who drove in the winning run in extras.

For Tampa Bay, Tyler Glasnow lasted three innings in his first start in over a year, allowing just one earned run on two hits. Unfortunately for Rays’ fans, they couldn’t get anything going consistently as they scored just the one run on six hits.

The Rays are slight favorites despite playing on the road Thursday. They are (-115) to win, while the Guardians’ moneyline sits at (+102). The runline features Cleveland +1.5 (-184), and the over/under for total runs is 6.5.

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Tampa Bay Still Fighting For Wild Card Positioning

At 85-70, the Tampa Bay Rays find themselves firmly entrenched in a playoff spot via the Wild Card. Sitting just a half-game ahead of the Seattle Mariners, though, they have work to do if they want to avoid getting the third Wild Card spot.

On the mound for Tampa Bay Thursday will be lefty Jeffrey Springs. In 31 games, he is 9-4 with a 2.56 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and he has 136 strikeouts in 126.1 innings.

He picked up a no-decision in his last start against the Blue Jays. In that start, he allowed three earned runs in five innings of work.

Versus righties this season, Randy Arozarena is hitting .255/.321/.428 with 14 home runs and 68 runs batted in over 451 at bats.

Guardians Even Series

As the postseason draws nearer, the Cleveland Guardians continue to look like a team that no one wants to face. Not only have they won eight of their last 10, but they have done so with great pitching and timely hitting.

Cal Quantrill will look to continue the great pitching on Thursday as he is 14-5 in 30 games this season. In that span, he has a 3.49 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He has also struck out 120 in 175.1 innings.

Quantrill comes into this one having won back-to-back starts. In his last outing, he allowed just one run over six innings against the Texas Rangers.

Offensively, keep an eye on Jose Ramirez in this one. He only has one hit in three at bats versus Jeffrey Springs, but that one hit was a home run.

Guardians Heading In The Right Direction

While the Guardians come in as underdogs in this one, there is a lot to like about them. They have won eight of their last 10 games and they have won eight of their last 11 home games.

For Tampa Bay, they have played well against Cleveland, going 13-4 in their last 17 games; however, they are just 3-6 in their last nine games overall.

This is a pretty good matchup of quietly solid pitchers Thursday between Cal Quantrill and Jeffrey Springs. Either one has the potential to throw a gem, but there is a lot to like about the Guardians as underdogs with the way they have been playing as of late.