The Miami Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays (more so) are long shots to make it the postseason, but both teams will look to begin their second half campaigns on a positive note. That being said, bettors pay no mind to the postseason at this point, as there is some money to be made on this run of Florida state games otherwise known as the Citrus Series. Going into the weekend, many bettors like the Marlins, who look to stay hot after winning five of their last seven games. Read on for a preview of this post All-Star Week series below.
Starters: Dan Straily (3-4, 4.29 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.59 ERA)
Pitching:
Straily has been solid over his past few starts, not allowing more than three runs in any of his last four starts. The last time he took to the mound, Straily allowed an earned run on four hits in six innings of a 5-4 home win over Milwaukee on Jul. 11. Eovaldi, meanwhile, is looking to recover from a nightmarish start in Jul. 13, when he gave up eight earned runs on nine hits in just 2.2 innings of an 11-8 road loss to the Twins.
Hitting:
The current Rays roster is 5-for-19 vs. Straily.
Starlin Castro is 5-for-9 vs. Eovaldi.
Writer’s Prediction:
Miami wins, 5-4.
Game 2, Saturday, July 21, 6:10PM
Starters: Pablo Lopez (1-1, 6.35 ERA) vs. Ryan Stanek (1-2, 2.08 ERA)
Pitching:
Lopez is set to make his fourth start of his career this Saturday against Tampa Bay. Lopez allowed five earned runs in each of his last two outings. He is 1-1 with a 6.35 ERA this year. The Rays have yet to declare who their starting pitcher would be for this game, but it could be Stanek, who has a 0.56 ERA in 16.0 total innings pitched at home this year.
Hitting:
Matt Duffy batted .317 in the first half of the season.
The current Marlins roster is 3-for-11 vs. Stanek.
Writer’s Prediction:
Tampa Bay wins, 6-4.
Game 3, Sunday, July 22, 1:10PM
Starters: Trevor Richards (3-5, 4.74 ERA) vs. Chris Archer (3-4, 4.29 ERA)
Pitching:
Richards had a nice stat to conclude his first-half campaign, limiting the Phillies to zero runs in six innings of a 2-0 home win on Jul. 14. He is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA in three starts this month. Archer, on the other hand, had a no-decision in his last start, though, he allowed just an earned run on five hits in 4.1 innings of a 19-6 road win over Minnesota on Jul. 14. He has a 4.70 ERA in two starts this month.
Hitting:
The current Rays lineup is 9-for-22 vs. Richards.
Starlin Castro is 8-for-20 with a homer vs. Archer.
Writer’s Prediction:
Tampa Bay wins, 6-3.
Writer’s Overall Series Prediction
The Rays reel in the Marlins’ current hot streak, taking two of three in the Citrus Series.
