Rays minus $1.03 at Pirates
Better team, better starting pitcher. That’s what Tampa Bay has going here and the Rays opened as a ‘dog.
The Rays are two games above .500 and in contention for the AL East title. The Pirates are a depressing six games under .500 and likely to be sellers at the trade deadline.
Rays starter Alex Cobb finally is healthy – and the results are looking good. Cobb is pitching his best ball going 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA in his last three starts. He is 9-3 with a 2.79 ERA in 14 career interleague starts.
I like Cobb much better than Pirates starter Trevor Williams, who has a 5.09 ERA on the season. The converted reliever is not in good form posting a 6.60 ERA and 1.33 WHIP during his last three starts. Williams has surrendered 13 runs in his last 15 innings.
The Rays strengthened their middle infield trading for slick fielding shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, who is scheduled to join the team today. The move frees the Rays to shift Tim Beckham to second base. So the Rays upgrade their shortstop defense and gain pop at second base as Beckham is batting .278 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs.
The Pirates have lost seven of their past nine interleague games. This is Pittsburgh’s first home game in eight days so its focus could be off as the players get settled back.
