I love the spot for the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. Â They had yesterday off while the Minnesota Twins were completing a 3-game series in New York against the Mets. Â All three of those games were decided by 2 runs or less, and each of their last six games have been decided by 3 runs or fewer so their suspect bullpen has had heavy usage.
The Rays have been a potent offensive team this season scoring 4.8 runs per game while scoring at least 5 runs in nine of their last 12 games overall. Â They get to face their former teammate in Taj Bradley for the first time and will clearly have the perfect scouting report on him. Â Look for this to be the game Bradley regresses in a major way.
Drew Rasmussen is one of the most underrated starters in baseball. Â He has gone 1-0 with a 2.75 ERA and 0.61 WHIP in four starts this season while allowing 6 earned runs and 12 base runners in 19 2/3 innings. Â Rasmussen has held the Twins to one earned run and 5 base runners in 8 innings in his last two starts against them. Â Bet the Rays Friday.