If you were lucky enough to play the Rays season win total over the number in Vegas before the season, it’s almost time to crack the bottle of champagne. Tampa Bay enters a mid-week series against the New York Yankees with an MLB-best record of 28-11 (+1,040). Just how good is this record you might ask? Simply put, only nine teams since 1969 have produced a better record at this point of the season.
The biggest improvement for this club in 2010 is obviously its play on the road. At 15-4 (+1,050), the Rays own the best road record in baseball. Much of this success can be attributed to the pitching staff leading the league with a 2.18 ERA on the road. Overall, the pitching staff leads the American League in ERA (2.74), sitting just behind the San Diego Padres in terms of the entire league. The starting staff has been the best in baseball through the middle of May, possessing a 21-6 record and 2.64 ERA, which is even more astounding considering the average age of all five pitchers coming in at 25.6. The only staff in baseball that is younger is the Detroit Tigers.
From a betting perspective, the team has been very streaky, especially since a losing effort at Toronto on 4/23/10. Since that game, the Rays have had a winning streak of two games, a couple of five-game streaks and their current four-game mark heading into New York.
For a franchise that has been known for futility on the road, the linesmaker is certainly dismissing those numbers now. Tampa Bay has been favored in nine of their last 11 road games. This is vastly different from the team’s opening road trip of the season (10 games); placing them as a favorite in the first three games. It must be pointed out that they were favored in all three games against Baltimore to open that particular trip, a team that was the worst in the American League at the time.
Due to all the accolades the pitching staff has received, bettors have been feasting on the highly-inflated American League numbers that are normally created, especially of late. The Under just went a perfect 5-0 on the Rays recently finished homestand and is 9-1-1 over their last 11 games (11-2 overall in May). In fact, there’s only one similarity in Tampa Bay’s two over’s this month – pitcher Matt Garza. The Rays went over the total by just a half run on 5/10 against the Angels with Garza on the mound and tallied a combined 11 runs with the Mariners on 5/5.
