AL Wild Card Game 2 Odds: Texas at Tampa Bay

Game 2 of the best-of-three series between the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays will occur Wednesday afternoon.

The Rangers were big winners in Game 1, as they shut down the Rays 4-0. The Rangers came in as the fifth seed in the American League, while the Rays are the fourth seed. It was the first playoff game for Texas since 2016.

The winner of this series will take on the top-seeded Baltimore Orioles in the next round. The Rays are listed at -155 in this game over the Texas Rangers. The total for the game is 7.5.

MyBookie has the betting prediction plus MLB betting lines, analysis, along with top free pick for AL Wild Card Game 2: Texas Rangers versus the Tampa Bay Rays.

2023 AL Wild Card Game 2 Odds to Win: Texas at Tampa Bay Betting Prediction | MyBookie MLB Playoff Preview

2023 Major League Baseball season | 123rd edition of MLB baseball in the United States
MLB Odds: Rangers +4; Rays -4 / Rangers +4; Rays -155 / O/U 7.5
Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays | ALWC – Game 2, TEX leads series 1-0
Nathan Eovaldi vs Zach Eflin

Wednesday, October 4th, 2023 at 3:00 pm | ABC
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida

Wednesday’s Pitching Matchup

Nathan Eovaldi will get the start for the Texas Rangers. Eovaldi took a loss in his final start of the regular season. In that game, he went just 3.1 innings, allowing five hits and seven runs. It was his 24th start of the season. He wrapped the season with a 12-5 record and a 3.63 earned run average.

Zach Eflin gets the ball for Tampa Bay in this game. Eflin made 30 regular season starts and finished with a 16-8 record. Eflin’s ERA went to 3.50 in his final start. That was on September 26th in Boston. He went five innings in that game, allowing five hits and three runs. Over his last eight starts, he has gone five innings or more and not allowed more than three earned runs.

Game One Recap

In the 4-0 Rangers win in Game One, Jordan Montgomery was fantastic, going seven strong innings of scoreless ball. The Rangers bullpen then slammed the door with two hitless innings. The offense for the Rangers got it going in the second inning with an RBI from Josh Jung.

A wild pitch in the fifth inning got the second run, then Corey Seager drove in two runs in the sixth. That was enough for the win. Seager, Leodis Taveras, and Evan Carter all had two hits in the win.

Offensive Threats

Randy Arozerena has a history of solid postseason play, and he had two hits on Tuesday. But the Rays are going to need more offense. This team finished fourth in all of baseball in runs scored and had the third-best batting average at .260.

The Rays saw Yandy Diaz lead the way with a .330 average, while Isaac Paredes provided power, clubbing 31 home runs and driving in 98 runs. Josh Lowe had a nice season for Tampa Bay as well, as he hit .292, with 20 home runs and 83 runs batted in.

After slipping a little down the stretch, which gave Houston the AL West title and a first-round bye, Texas is excited to get the bats going consistently. The Rangers were the third-best scoring team, with 881 runs, and hit .263.

That was second-best in Major League Baseball. The Rangers’ top offensive threats have been Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Marcus Semien. Semien drove in 100 runs, Garcia 107, while Seager led the team with a .327 batting average.

Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Betting Prediction | Rangers Win the Series

Look for Nathan Eovaldi to be strong in this game. Eovaldi can throw and has some experience. The Tampa Bay offense looked down in the game one loss.

Look for Eovaldi and the bullpen to keep the Rays offense off balance. Texas scores some runs and then adds to it later in the game, and the Rangers go on the road and win both games of the series.

Take the Texas Rangers at +135 over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

2023 MLB Wild Card Game 2 Pick: Texas Rangers at +135 | Bet Texas at Tampa Bay
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Series

Texas Rangers Last 5

Date	OPP	Result
10/3/23	@ TB	W4-0
10/1/23	@ SEA	L1-0
9/30/23	@ SEA	W6-1
9/29/23	@ SEA	L8-0
9/28/23	@ SEA	L3-2

Texas Rangers Injury Report

Name \| Position	Status	DATE
Max Scherzer SP	10-Day IL	Oct 3

AL West Standings | Texas Rangers

Team	W	L	Pct	L10
Houston Astros	90	72	.556	6-4
Texas Rangers	90	72	.556	6-4
Seattle Mariners	88	74	.543	4-6
Los Angeles Angels	73	89	.451	4-6
Oakland Athletics	50	112	.309	4-6

Tampa Bay Rays Last 5

Date	OPP	Result
10/3/23	@ TEX	L4-0
10/1/23	@ TOR	W12-8
9/30/23	@ TOR	W7-5 F/10
9/29/23	@ TOR	L11-4
9/27/23	@ BOS	W5-0

Tampa Bay Rays Injury Report

Name \| Position	Status	DATE
No injured players

AL East Standings | Tampa Bay Rays

Team	W	L	Pct	L10
Baltimore Orioles	101	61	.623	6-4
Tampa Bay Rays	99	63	.611	6-4
Toronto Blue Jays	89	73	.549	4-6
New York Yankees	82	80	.506	6-4
Boston Red Sox	78	84	.481	3-7

Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays Betting Trends

The Rays have been favorites in 128 games this season and won 84 (65.6%) of those contests.
The Rays have gone 48-18 (winning 72.7% of their games) when they have played as moneyline favorites of -160 or shorter.
The bookmakers’ moneyline implies a 61.5% chance of a victory for Tampa Bay.
The Rays have a 4-3 record from the seven games they were moneyline favorites over their last 10 matchups.
In its last 10 outings (all 10 of them had set totals), Tampa Bay and its opponents combined to go over the run total eight times.
The Rangers have come away with 23 wins in the 48 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
This year, the Rangers have won four of 10 games when listed as at least +135 or worse on the moneyline.
The Rangers have played as underdogs in four of their past 10 games and have gone 2-2 in those contests.
In the last 10 games with a total, Texas and its opponents are 2-7-1 when it comes to hitting the over.
Jordan Montgomery has hit the Pitching Outs Over in 18 of his last 21 games (+14.25 Units / 54% ROI)
Adolis Garcia has hit the Singles Under in 31 of his last 41 games (+13.85 Units / 19% ROI)
Nate Lowe has hit the Total Bases Under in 22 of his last 30 games (+13.50 Units / 27% ROI)
Curtis Mead has hit the Hits Over in 15 of his last 17 games (+10.70 Units / 30% ROI)
Josh Lowe has hit the Hits Over in 10 of his last 11 games (+9.80 Units / 45% ROI)
Josh Lowe has hit the Runs Over in 7 of his last 8 games (+8.05 Units / 99% ROI)

2023 MLB Wild Card Schedule for Today

Date	Time	WC Game	Home		Away
Wednesday, October 4	3:00 p.m.	Game 2	Texas Rangers	vs.	Tampa Bay Rays
Wednesday, October 4	4:30 p.m.	Game 2	Toronto Blue Jays	vs.	Minnesota Twins
Wednesday, October 4	7:00 p.m.	Game 2	Arizona Diamondbacks	vs.	Milwaukee Brewers
Wednesday, October 4	8:00 p.m.	Game 2	Miami	vs.	Philadelphia

Bet MLB Wild Card Game 2 Lines