Rays vs Orioles Odds, Picks, and Probable Pitchers (August 29)

• The Rays and Orioles meet on Sunday in the series finale of a three-game set
• AL East-leading Tampa is a heavy -210 favorite
• Find the odds, analysis, and prediction below

The Tampa Bay Rays (81-48, 41-25 away) and Baltimore Orioles (40-88, 19-43 home) face off for the final time this season on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm EST. Tampa won a 4-3 nail biter on Saturday thanks to a go-ahead two-run bomb from Randy Arozarena in the top of the 8th inning.

Chris Archer takes the hill for the Rays while rookie Spenser Watkins gets the call for the O’s.

Rays vs Orioles Odds

Odds as of August 28th at DraftKings

Probable Pitchers

Although Archer exited his last start early with hip soreness, he will be available on Sunday. The right-hander has missed almost the entire season with forearm soreness, making just three appearances. His first two outings were in April but he’s been sidelined since and finally returned on August 22nd. While Archer made it through just two innings against the White Sox, the 32-year-old allowed just one hit and no runs.

Chris Archer strikes out three batters in his first inning on the mound since April 10th because he's like that pic.twitter.com/SSIuzSW0Qw

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 22, 2021

Having pitched in the AL East for many years before heading to Pittsburgh for two underwhelming seasons, Archer has faced the Orioles on many occasions. Baltimore may be a very different team than a few years ago, but he doesn’t have a very good history against them, going 6-10 with a 5.07 ERA in 113.2 innings of work. Only three batters in the O’s lineup are familiar with Archer.

Archer vs Watkins

Watkins is a true success story, making it to the big leagues as a 30th round pick in 2014. However, the rookie hasn’t exactly excelled for the Orioles. The former Western Oregon standout has a 2-6 record and dismal 7.07 ERA in 10 appearances, with nine of them being starts. Watkins’ previous outing was nothing to write home about as the Angels lit him up for eight earned runs in just two innings. In fact, the 29-year-old has surrendered 26 runs in his last five starts.

Spenser Watkins.

Ugh. pic.twitter.com/4GlZvZF1bz

— Chris O'Leary | Baseball + Critical Thinking (@thepainguy) August 26, 2021

Watkins has already pitched against Tampa Bay three times in 2021, compiling a 5.06 ERA in 16 frames. To make matters even worse, Watkins has a 7.59 ERA at Camden Yards and the Rays are extremely familiar with his stuff. It also doesn’t help that Tampa is absolutely firing on all cylinders right now.

Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers

Tampa Bay is red-hot and still has a five-game lead over the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East. The Rays have now won six straight after Saturday and nine of their last 10 contests. They took two out of three games from a very good Chicago White Sox team then also rolled into Philadelphia and swept the Phillies.

This is the definition of a web gem pic.twitter.com/4ksaYtZAcv

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 29, 2021

While their starting pitching has been rather sub-par with a 4.24 ERA as a rotation, Tampa’s bullpen has been absolutely lights out, posting a 3.04 ERA, which is number one in the entire bigs. Even with Tyler Glasnow out with an elbow injury for the remainder of the season, Kevin Cash’s squad has been able to thrive on the mound.

Following a 19-game losing streak, the Orioles won two straight against the Angels earlier this week, topped off with a commanding 13-1 victory in the series finale. While they’re still in the absolute gutter of the American League, simply ending their cold spell was satisfying in itself, especially since Baltimore did it in front of their home fans.

Back in the win column!

The @Orioles rally for 6 late runs to end their 19-game losing streak. 👏 pic.twitter.com/jSA2jRKLDJ

— MLB (@MLB) August 26, 2021

There are a couple of tough AL East matchups ahead for the O’s after this Rays series though as they visit the Blue Jays and Yankees. At this point, it’s all about playing spoiler.

Rays vs Orioles Prediction

Archer hasn’t pitched much this season but he will be on an innings limit in just his second appearance since coming off the IL. With that in mind, the Tampa bullpen will take over and we know how dominant they’ve been. Watkins meanwhile has been struggling immensely. The Rays are a safe bet to cover the runline.

Pick: Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 (-140)

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