Rays minus $1.02 hosting Phillies
Maybe in a year or two, the Phillies will be good. Right now they aren’t. Their statistics have been padded by a 20-run game against the Marlins. Philadelphia is batting just .221 as a team and is third in the league in most errors committed.
Tampa Bay is a disappointing 3-9, but eight of its 12 games have been against the powerful Red Sox and Yankees.
The Rays are back home for the first time since the start of the month. Tropicana Field is very tricky to opponents who aren’t used to playing there with its artificual turf. The Phillies are 2-8 in their last 10 games on AstroTurf. The Phillies have been terrible, too, the past three years in interleague play dropping 15 of 20 games.
Phillies starter Vince Velasquez was 2-7 with a 5.13 ERA last season. He has a 4.50 ERA in four career interleague matchups. The Phillies are 1-5 in his last six road starts.
Tampa Bay starter Jacob Faria showed a lot of promise last season as a rookie posting a winning record and 3.43 ERA. The Phillies have never faced him. Faria should be in line for a good performance since his first two games this season were both against the Red Sox.
(Editor’s note: Stephen is 3-0 the past three days on his MLB plays winning those games by a combined 16 runs. Stephen has three more baseball plays going today headed by his Underdog Game of the Month. If interested in his service, please email him.)
