Orioles vs Rays Odds, Betting Lines, and Probable Pitchers (August 19)

• The Tampa Bay Rays are -300 favorites over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday (August 19th, 1:10 pm ET)
• Tampa Bay will give the ball to rookie Shane McClanahan (7-4, 3.73 ERA), while Baltimore will counter with Jorge Lopez (3-13, 6.14 ERA)
• Read below for odds, analysis and a betting prediction

It’s 14 straight losses and counting for the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s suffered yet another blowout defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, and have now lost 14 in a row for the second time this season. Baltimore will try to prevent a four-game sweep in Tampa on Thursday afternoon (August 19th), but oddsmakers don’t like the Orioles chances.

Orioles vs Rays Odds

Odds as of August 17th at DraftKings.

The Rays opened up as a -300 moneyline favorite, in a game that features a total of 8.5. Tampa Bay has outscored it’s AL East rival 27-6 through the first three games of the series, and are five games clear of the New York Yankees atop of the division.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 pm ET inside Tropicana Field, with a pitching matchup that heavily favors the Rays.

Probable Pitchers

Jorge Lopez will get the ball for Baltimore, which must be music to the ears of the Tampa Bay hitters. Lopez has suffered the most losses of any starting pitcher in baseball, and owns the third worst xFIP among qualified starters.

Opposition teams playing Baltimore every time Jorge Lopez starts on the mound: pic.twitter.com/7Br9l69dUy

— Dimers Sports Analytics (@DimersCom) August 14, 2021

Last time out, the 28-year-old surrendered nine hits and seven runs against the Red Sox, marking the sixth time this season’s he’s allowed at least five runs. One of those starts was against Tampa Bay, and the Rays have tagged him for 12 hits and seven runs over 10.2 innings of work this season.

Lopez vs McClanahan

Tampa Bay enters Thursday’s action having scored at least eight runs in 10 of its last 12 games, including six straight against the Orioles.

Go ahead and double that lead pic.twitter.com/2j8O9JngYd

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 19, 2021

A handful of Rays hitters have crushed Lopez over their careers, but none more so than Kevin Kiermaier and Brandon Lowe, who are each hitting north of .500 versus the right-hander.

Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers

Tampa Bay will send Shane McClanahan to the mound on Wednesday, who’s fresh off three straight victories. The rookie has held four of his past six opponents to two runs or less, and is 2-0, with a 3.00 ERA against Baltimore in 2021.

The Orioles enter play as the second lowest scoring team in the AL, and have failed to reach five runs in nine straight contests.

Orioles vs Rays Pick

Baltimore hasn’t just been losing during this most recent skid, they’ve been getting crushed. Each of its 14 losses have been by two runs or more, with all but one defeat coming by at least three runs. They’ve been outscored 131-40 in the process, and are just the third team since 1901 to have two losing streaks of 14 or more games in the same season.

https://twitter.com/JoeTrezz/status/1428179889874681857

Tampa Bay meanwhile, is rolling. The Rays are 14-5 over their past 19 outings and 14-1 versus the Orioles this season. Tampa hitters rank second in all of baseball in runs, and third in OPS+. They have the most favorable matchup imaginable not only against Lopez, but the entire Orioles pitching staff. Baltimore ranks last in starter ERA, bullpen ERA, opponent batting average and home runs allowed.

There’s no reason to stop betting against the Orioles now.

Pick: Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 (-135)