MLB Best Bet: Thursday, May 5th

The Seattle Mariners return home after a dismal 9-game road trip that saw them earn just two wins and our resident ML expert Ej Garr expects Tampa Bay to continue handing the northwest outfit losses. The line setters have left some meat on the bone towards a play on the Rays to excel again as they just took 2 of 3 games from the Ms last week.
MLB Best Bet May 5th

• Seattle vs Tampa Bay: Rays to Win (OT Included)

Odds as of 9 am May 5th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

Seattle vs Tampa Bay Best Bet

May 6, 02:40 UK time

Tampa Bay just took 2 of 3 games from the Mariners which started that recent 9-game road trip for Seattle I mentioned above. Everyone was talking about the decent start that the Mariners had to begin the 2022 campaign and then WHAM! Just like baseball tends to do, the wheels suddenly fell off and now the Mariners are struggling to get anything right.

After taking the win over Tampa Bay in game 1 of their series on April 26, the Ms have now lost 7 of their last 8 games and these last 3 days in Houston produced some of the worst baseball we have seen all season. Seattle scored 2 runs in 3 days and only managed 14 hits in Houston and now they come home and the line setters are giving them a chance to win tonight?

The oddsmakers only feature 6.5 on the total here and that is obviously because the Mariners can’t hit anything right now. Seattle only scored 2 runs or less in 6 of those road games on this recent trip and Tampa Bay starter Shane McClanahan is coming off a start where he whiffed 11 Twins in 5 innings. The Twins easily won the game, 9 – 1, but McClanahan has thrown 27 innings in his 5 starts carrying an ERA of only 3.00.

Neither starter appeared in the first 3-game set last week when these two teams met in Tampa, as Robbie Ray will be toeing the bump for the Mariners in this contest on Thursday. Ray picked up a loss last time out because he didn’t get a lick of run support while giving up 3 earned runs in a loss to the Marlins, 3 – 1.

Ray has done a good job of keeping the ball in the park over his last 3 starts after giving up 4 homers in his first 2 starts of the season, including allowing 3 to the Chi-Sox on April 13. That was a major issue for Ray last season in Toronto as he surrendered 33 dingers in 32 starts for the Jays.    

As I see this affair, the Rays are simply playing better baseball than the Mariners, and until I see a lick of output from Seattle we have to fade them. If the line is going to stay fair at 1.80 then that makes this an easy choice as the best bet to make for Thursday around the diamond. 

• Selection: Tampa Bay to Win (OT Included)
• Best odds: 1.74 (William Hill)
• Stakes 4/10

Odds as of 10 am May 5th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

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