John Bollman's Bet of the Day - 9/17

The Tampa Bay Rays take on the Texas Rangers in St. Petersburg, Florida for the second game of this three-game series in Tampa Bay. The Texas Rangers won game one in a great game that ended with the Rays loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning down just one run, before grounding out to end the game. It was a very nice play by the third baseman too to get the runner at second and to even just keep the ball in the infield and ensure they at least wouldn’t lose the game on that play. The Rangers were able to get to Corey Kluber yesterday and score four runs off him and that was all they needed. They could have had a tell on him from his days as a Texas Ranger. But today Ryan Yarbrough should be the bulk reliever behind an opener. It looks like Shawn Armstrong will be the opener right now, but that could change. There could be a different opener or Yarbrough could end up just starting the game, so when you make this bet, I highly suggest listing only Jon Gray while leaving the Rays pitcher as an action bet in case something changes. This just ensures your bet is placed in case there is a last-minute change.

Ryan Yarbrough didn’t allow a run in either of his last two appearances, both against the Yankees. He has pitched very well as a bulk reliever this season. The Rangers hit lefties well overall, but they’ve actually been hitting righties a bit better than lefties lately. Jon Gray is slightly worse on the road going 3-5 with a 3.84 ERA but he is making just his second start since returning from the IL. He only pitched 3.2 innings, but he only allowed one earned run and three hits while striking out five. I don’t think he will go more than five innings in this game so that means the Rangers bullpen should get extended. Their top relievers should all be available, but they have been very worked recently while the Rays have had the better bullpen, and they will have everyone available. The Rays are 12-3 in their last 15 home games. They have been absolutely dominating at home so I think they will bounce back from their tough loss yesterday and pick up the win today at home.