Las Vegas at Tampa Bay

I cashed Tampa Bay at two units last night, and it still took a leadoff homer in the ninth to snap a tie against a team that's lost 90 games. That's the number I care about tonight, not the standings. The Rays clinched their playoff spot last week and have the AL East locked up, and a club with nothing left to determine is exactly the spot where a shorthanded underdog can steal one. Brady Basso has kept his ERA in a manageable range through a small big-league sample, and Nick Martinez, an All-Star this season, is walking into a lineup that pushed his own team to the brink for nine innings just last night. This is a series where the favorite is playing out the string, and the number in front of me reflects a season-long gap more than what will actually happen on the field tonight. Take the A's to win.