The Oakland A’s and the Tampa Bay Rays square off Wednesday in MLB action from Tropicana Field. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Prediction.

Starting Pitching Matchup

The Oakland A’s will send out Joey Estes for the start here and Estes is 1-1 with a 7.47 ERA and 15 strikeouts this season. This will be Estes’ first career start against the Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays will start Ryan Pepiot here and Pepiot is 3-2 with a 3.98 ERA and 44 strikeouts this season. This will be Pepiot’s first career start against Oakland.

Oakland A’s Recap

The Oakland A’s got off on the right foot to start the series after picking up a 3-0 win over the Rays in Tuesday’s series opener. The win was a great start for the A’s to bounce back after losing their series with the Houston Astros over the weekend.

A’s Still In Need Of Consistent Production

Brent Rooker leads the A’s with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs this season while Abraham Toro has a team-high 56 hits and 19 RBIs. JJ Bleday has a team-high 15 doubles, 46 hits and 22 RBIs and Toro has a .283 batting average. Rooker also has the unfortunate title of leading strikeout bat with 58 K’s at the dish this season. Shea Langeliers has also chipped in 11 home runs and 27 RBIs.

Why the Oakland Athletics will win

• The Rays have lost seven of their last eight games.
• The road team has won six of the Rays’ last seven games.
• The Rays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 10 Wednesday home games against AL West opponents.
• The Athletics have covered the run line in each of their last six games against the Rays following a road win.
• The Athletics have led after 5 innings in each of their last seven Wednesday night games against AL East opponents that held a losing record.

Tampa Bay Rays Recap

The Tampa Bay Rays come into this one looking to shake off their loss at the hands of the A’s to start the set on Tuesday. The loss put the Rays at risk of another series loss after a split with the Royals on the weekend and a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox last week.

Rays Struggling To Find Offense During Slide

Isaac Paredes leads the Rays across the board with 55 hits, 9 home runs, 29 RBIs and a .296 batting average as well as a .387 OBP. Yandy Diaz has 53 hits with a team-high 10 doubles while Jose Caballero has a team-high 19 stolen bases. Randy Arozarena has 8 home runs, 18 RBIs along with a team-high 64 strikeouts and 7 stolen bases.

Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win

• The Athletics have lost each of their last eight road games after playing the previous day.
• The Rays have won seven of their last eight night games against AL West opponents following a loss.
• The Athletics have failed to cover the run line in nine of their last 10 games after playing the previous day.
• The Rays have covered the run line in six of their last eight night games against the Athletics following a home loss.
• The Athletics have lost the first inning in each of their last five Wednesday night games.
• The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last six Wednesday night games.

Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Prediction

I’m on the Rays in this one. I just don’t trust the A’s to string together consistent success as this is a team that’s been inconsistent at the best of times and Joey Estes isn’t a pitcher I’m relying on to shut down Tampa Bay. The Rays are a much better team than what they’ve shown as of late and while I’d normally wait to see the team right the ship before getting back on them, I think this is an early must-win series for the Rays to get back on track. Give me Tampa Bay here.