Tampa Bay Rays vs Washington Nationals

Tampa Bay has won the past four meetings after its 3-1 victory on Friday night when Jose Siri hit two solo homers and Zach Eflin pitched six shutout innings for the Rays. Washington is 0-8 and 5-0 UNDER in Jake Irvin's past eight starts with five days of rest and the Rays have won six of seven as favorites of -110 to -150. Tampa Bay is 4-0 UNDER in Aaron Civale's past four starts against teams with losing records. The Nationals are on a four-game losing streak while Tampa Bay has won seven of nine and it is playing better than it has all season. The Rays have reached the .500 mark and they are back in wild card contention. Tampa Bay has gone UNDER four in a row as a home favorite of -110 to -150. Take the Rays and the UNDER.

Washington plays its seventh straight road game. They've lost three in a row surrendering 24 runs. The offense is 20th in runs scored, 23rd in on-base percentage, and 23rd in slugging. Starter Mitchell Parker likes the friendly confines of his home park (2.27 ERA) but has a 4.07 ERA on the road. Washington is 54-95 as an underdog of +150 or less. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is on a 7-3 run and plays its fourth consecutive home contest. Zach Eflin has a 2.90 ERA at home and his team is 14-3 when he starts after a loss, so back home field. Play Tampa Bay. 

Washington will go with Chad Kuhl to get its second win of the season and last year Kuhl did his best work in April when he was 3-0 with a 1.90 ERA and .160 opponent batting average. Tampa Bay will counter with Josh Fleming, who was 2-5 with a 6.43 ERA and 1.89 WHIP in 2022 and he has started 19 games in his career. The Rays have lost eight of 10 versus right-handed starters dating to 2022 and they have not fared well against the Nationals in interleague play losing six of the past seven at Washington. The Nationals have their first opportunity to get some runs against a pitcher who has not looked good since 2020. Make it a Max Play on the Nationals.