San Francisco Giants vs. Tampa Bay Rays Predictions, Picks and MLB Preview – June 17, 2016

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San Francisco Giants vs. Tampa Bay Rays Preview

Where: Tropicana Field, Tampa

When: Friday, June 17, 7:10 PM ET

Line: San Francisco Giants (+107) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (-117); total: 7.5 – view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: CSN-BA, Fox Sports Sun

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Betting on the San Francisco Giants (+107)

The San Francisco Giants extended their winning streak to five games with an emphatic 10-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. Johnny Cueto was superb once again for San Francisco, allowing just one run on seven hits in seven innings of action. The first-year Giant struck out nine batters to earn his team-leading 10th victory.

The Giants will look to carry the momentum of that huge win when they lock horns with the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. Pitching for San Francisco in the series opener is Jeff Samardzija (7-4, 3.36 ERA). He had a rough outing in his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, allowing two runs on seven hits in just 4.2 innings of action. Fortunately for the right-hander, the Giants rallied for a famous 5-4 victory. Samardzija started the season like a house on fire, going 7-2 with a 2.54 ERA over his first 10 starts. He has struggled since then, though, posting a 7.36 ERA over his last three outings.

Given Samardzija’s recent pitching woes, the pressure is on the San Francisco hitters to get some runs on the board tonight. Expected to lead the Giants offense in the series opener against the Rays is catcher Buster Posey. He went 8-for-12 in the series sweep against Milwaukee to raise his batting average from .251 to .274. He is hitless though in two career at-bats against Rays starter Chris Archer.

The Giants are 5-5 in their last 10 road games. They are pegged at +350 to win the National League pennant.

Betting on the Tampa Bay Rays (-117)

Starting for Tampa Bay in this interleague matchup is right-hander Chris Archer (4-8, 4.61 ERA). He was solid in his last start, allowing three runs on six hits in 7.2 innings of action in Tampa Bay’s 4-3 loss to the Houston Astros. The Rays have now lost four of their last five games with Archer as their starter. Archer has struggled with the long ball this season, allowing a homer in 10 of his last 13 appearances.

With Archer struggling with his command right now, the onus is on the Tampa Bay hitters to pick up the scoring slack tonight. Expected to lead the Rays offense in the series opener against the Giants is third baseman Evan Longoria.  He leads the Rays in homers (16), RBIs (40), hits (69), batting average (.278) and on-base percentage (.335) this season.

Longoria will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing Giants starter Jeff Samardzija who is 2-8 with a 5.46 ERA in interleague play. Samardzija has allowed 20 earned runs in 22.2 innings over his last four meetings vs. the American League. Longoria is 2-of-6 in his career against Samardzija with a homer and three RBIs.

The Rays are 4-1 in their last five home games against the Giants. They are priced at +4,000 to win the World Series this year.

Writer’s Prediction

San Francisco (+107) wins, 6-4.

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