LA Angels vs Tampa Bay Rays Betting Line

Tuesday’s Los Angeles at Tampa Bay matchup is what many thought could be an American League Championship Series preview before the season began, but instead we have two teams who have been pretty mediocre all season and hoping not to fall too far behind in their respective divisions.

The Rays have opened as -132 money line favorites for Game 1 of this series on Tuesday.

The good news for Tampa Bay is that its best player, Evan Longoria, returned to the starting lineup Monday against the Yankees after missing nearly a week with an injured left hamstring. Longoria is hitting .316 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs this season after going 0-for-3 Monday.

“It just makes a huge difference. I know he’s eager to get back out there. It’s difficult for him to sit around, too,” manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s very difficult to watch him sit around.”

Tampa Bay won’t have shortstop Jason Bartlett in this series. Bartlett, the team MVP last year who was off to the best start of his career, is eligible to come off the DL on Wednesday from his sprained ankle. But he won’t be ready by then and will need at least a few games in the minors before getting activated, so that rules him out of the Angels series.

Meanwhile, the Rays still lead the AL in runs despite the massive struggles of catcher Dioner Navarro. An All-Star last year, Navarro is hitting just .206 with three homers and 13 RBIs.

“Can’t get any worse than this,” he said. “I feel like I’m at the top of my game right now, defensively.

Offensively, not so much, but there’s still 100-something games to play. So hopefully, things will change a little bit.”

Tampa Bay is a favorite tonight because pitcher James Shields is great at home. Shields (5-4, 3.40), is 4-0 with a 1.49 ERA while yielding just one home run in 36 1-3 innings against the Angels all-time at Tropicana Field. He’s 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA in seven career starts against Los Angeles. Shields has gone 3-1 with a 2.02 ERA in his last five outings at home overall.

The Angels’ Jered Weaver (5-2, 2.26 ERA) is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last six starts, including two complete games. Weaver is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA and a .188 opponents’ batting average in three career starts versus the Rays.

MLB Betting at WagerWeb.com