Game Time: 1:10 pm ET, Sunday, September 19th, 2021 

Venue: Tropicana Field, St Petersburg, Florida

Where to Watch: Bally Sports Detroit, Bally Sports Sun

DraftKings: Moneyline:  Rays - 335, Tigers +260; Over/Under: 7.5 runs

 BetMGM: Moneyline: Rays - 335, Tigers +260; Over/Under: 7.5 runs 

Caesars: Moneyline: Rays - 335, Tigers +260; Over/Under: 7.5 runs

Tigers: 70-78,  3rd place AL Central

Rays: 92-56, 1st place AL East

What an amazing Sept the AL East is having.  The Rays are a winning machine, no one in the division is catching them.  The race for 2nd has been wild.  The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays started in that order 2,3,4… then the jumping started.  The Yanks moved up , the Sox moved down, the Jays moved up , The Yanks went cold and plummeted to 4th, The Jays hit 2nd place., The Sox heated up again… and boom.  They are all back in the original order… of Sox, Yanks, Rays that they have been since early June.  There is still enough time for the Merry-go-round to do it all again.  Only now the Rays don’t have to care who gets second.  The Rays now have an 8 game lead in 1st place and are certain no one will catch them.

 

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The Tigers are 5-5 over their last ten games.  Logging 4 Overs, 5 Unders and 1 Push.  They went 1-2 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 against the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-0 against the Milwaukee Brewers, and 0-2 against the Rays again at the start of this current four-game-series. 

The Rays are 5-5 over their last ten games.  Hitting 4 Over, 3 Under, and 3 Push.  They went 1-1 against the Boston Red Sox, 1-2 against the Detroit Tigers, 1-2 against the Toronto Blue Jays, and then 2-0 against the Tigers again.  They’ll be a flurry of excitement in the American League East over the next two weeks as everyone plays everyone.  You can bet the Rays will finish in first place.

The Tigers are 14th in team batting average .241, 19th in runs scored 644, 20th in home runs 170. They are a slightly below average offense that is lucky to be in the soft American League Central.

The Rays are 17th in team batting average .240, 1st in runs scored 793, 6th in home runs 206. They are a solid hitting team that can score while only being 17th in team batting average because they are 6th in walks.  Their hits and homers produce more runs because they have more runners on base.  It’s simple stuff really.

The Tigers' pitchers are 19th in team ERA 4.38, 26th in strikeouts 1165, 9th in WHIP 1.37…. They also give up the 8th most walks.  They will put runners on base and play right into the Rays’ hands.

The Rays are 7th in team ERA 3.78, 8th in strikeouts 1361, 4th in WHIP 1.19.  They have a solid starting rotation that is followed by an above average bullpen.  

Our prediction for Sunday, September 19th is… Rays  7 - Tigers 2

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The Tigers are 31-42 on the moneyline in road games.

The Tigers are 30-35 in Day games.

The Tigers O/U is 34-35-3 on the road.

The Rays are 47-26 on the moneyline in home games..

The Rays are 38-17 in Day games.

The Rays O/U is 36-34-2 at home.

Tigers: J Cisnero RP (elbow) out indefinitely *  M. Boyd SP (elbow) Out indefinitely

Rays: Nelson Cruz DH (forearm) Questionable * W. Franco SS (hamstring) Questionable

Tigers: Wily Peralta, The right-hander will take the mound, 3-3, 3.32 ERA, 49 strikeouts in 76 innings pitched, 1.26 WHIP.  Big Wily the 32 year old Dominican starting pitcher is 53-59 over his career and exactly the type of guy that is saved for a matchup at the end of a long series against a great team.  He will try his best.

Rays:  The Rays have listed TBD for pitcher.  Most likely we get a bullpen game so you can watch all the pitchers have a go.  At this point in the season with the winning record they have, they will be looking for spots like this to give rest to the starters in preparation for the postseason.

"It's a shame we couldn't finish it off tonight." -AJ Hinch, Tigers manager, about the Rays rallying to take game 2 of the series in the tenth.

"For whatever reason, the guys have had a knack of getting hot late in ballgames and they did again today."  -Rays manager Kevin Cash, about the same game.

Tigers:

A. Baddoo, LF

J. Schoop, 1B

R. Grossman, RF

M. Cabrera, DH

J. Candelario, 3B

N. Goodrum, SS

D. Garneau, C

W. Castro, 2B

D. Hill, CF

Rays:

Y. Diaz, 3B

R. Arozarena, LF

B. Lowe, 2B

M. Margot, RF

J. Luplow, DH

J. Choi, 1B

M. Zunino, C

T. Walls, SS

B. Phillips, CF

Tigers:

Batting AVG:  Jonathan Schoop .274

Home Runs:  Robbie Grossman  23

RBI:  Jonathan Schoop  77

OBP:  Robbie Grossman  .356

Wins: Tarik Skubal  8

Saves:  Gregory Soto 18

Holds:  Jose Cisnero  18

Rays:

Batting AVG: Randy Arozarena  .271

Home Runs:  Brandon Lowe  34

RBI:  Austin Meadows  100

OBP:  Yandy Diaz

Wins: Josh Fleming 10

Strikeout:  Shane McClanahan 128

Saves:  Diego Castillo

Scattered Thunderstorms.  High of 85*,  60% chance of precipitation during game time.  Wet, soggy, field.