Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers odds, picks and predictions – USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire

The Texas Rangers(24-24) host the Tampa Bay Rays(28-21) Wednesday at Globe Life Field for the 3rd game of their 4-game series with the first pitch scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET. Lets analyze Tipico Sportsbooks lines around the Rays vs. Rangers odds with MLB picks and predictions.

Texas has won the first 2 games of this series by a combined score of 12-5. The Rangers beat the Rays 4-3 in last years season series but Tampa Bay had a plus-2 run differential in those meetings.

LHP Jeffrey Springsvs. RHP Jon Gray

Springs is 2-2 with a 1.62 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 1.9 BB/9 and 8.9 K/9 in 33 1/3 IP over 5 starts and 8 relief appearances.

Gray is 1-2 with a 5.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 3.4 BB/9 and 8.5 K/9 in 34 IP across 7 starts.

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:23 p.m. ET.

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Rays 8, Rangers 2

BETa half-unit on theRAYS (-120) only because theyve struggled at the plate over the past two weeks and the Rangers hit better vs. left-handed pitching than Tampas lineup vs. righties.

But, the Rays have an edge in the starting and relief pitching matchups. Tampas bullpen is better than Texass by ERA, WHIP, FIP, WAR, exit velocity and swing-and-miss rates, according to FanGraphs.

Springs grades in the 98th percentile in chase rate, 83rd percentile in whiff rate, and the 85th percentile or better in expected batting average (xBA), wOBA (xwOBA) and slugging percentage (xSLG) slash line, perStatcast.

Gray is in the 38th percentile or worse in xBA-xwOBA-xSLG slash line, 45th percentile in chase rate and 50th percentile in whiff rate.

Tampas ML is taking steam and has been bet up from a -115 opener but theres still value on theRAYS (-120).

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PASS.

Texass lineup has been a lot more productive recently and hits lefties well and the Rangers +1.5 (-180) are 10-5 RL as home underdogs. Im also not confident enough in Tampas ML to sprinkle on the Rays -1.5 (+145).

LEAN to theOVER 7.5 (+100)only because most of the market is betting the Over but the total has ticked down from an 8-run opener, according to Pregame.com. This type of line movement is suspicious.

However, Tampa is 8-3-2 O/U as a road favorite, Texas is 9-5-1 O/U as a home underdogand 5-2 O/U in Grays 7 starts and the Over is 3-1-1 O/U in the last 5 Rays-Rangers meetings.

Also, Globe Life Field is a hitter-friendly park (8th in park factor) and the weather forecast is predicting temperatures in the low-90s and hotter weather typically leads to more Overs.

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Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers odds, picks and predictions - USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire