Rays vs. Reds Prediction and Odds for Friday, July 8 (Cincinnati Has No Answer for Shane McClanahan)

The Tampa Bay Rays are neck and neck with the Red Sox for the second spot in the AL East and get a cupcake of a matchup today in Cincinnati.

The Rays are riding a two-game win streak and came out on top of five of their last six outings. The Reds, on the other hand, are 4-6 in their last 10 and quite possibly the worst team in baseball. With just 14 wins at home this year, Cincinnati is in a tough spot again today against the Rays at the Great American Ballpark. 

Here are the odds for this game from consensus sportsbooks.

Rays vs. Reds Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

• Rays: -1.5 (+135)
• Reds: +1.5 (-155)

Moneyline:

• Rays: -125
• Reds: +105

Total:

• Total 8 (Over -105/Under -115)

Rays vs. Reds Prediction and Pick

The Reds have two major issues today as far as I see. One of those issues is Shane McClanahan (9-3) making the start for Tampa Bay. The other problem with this Reds team today is they are awful top to bottom. McClanahan enters this mismatch with a 1.74 ERA and squeaky clean 0.81 WHIP.

To put that into perspective, he leads the MLB in WHIP, ranks second in ERA, and is one strikeout behind Corbin Burnes for league leader. McClanahan hasn’t allowed more than one earned run to score in nine of his past ten games and is a favorite to win the Cy Young. On his worst day, he should walk all over this lineup. 

To be fair, the Reds’ starter Luis Castillo has been playing quite well lately. He won his last two games and allowed just one run to cross in his previous 13 innings.

Castillo also has strong career numbers against the Rays with a .147 batting average and three extra-base hits in 66 at-bats. The problem is that even if he spins a gem, the Reds offense is still hot garbage and can’t be trusted to put up runs consistently. This is especially true with a talent like McClanahan on the hill. 

Pick: Rays ML (-125)

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE