Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Prediction, 5/7/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics

Date: Friday, May 7, 2021

Location: RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, CA

TV: NBC Sports California

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (+122) Oakland (-132)

Rich Hill and the Tampa Bay Rays (17-15, 3rd in AL East) are headed to RingCentral Coliseum on Friday where they'll meet the Oakland Athletics (19-13, 1st in AL West). The Athletics open this contest at -132 while the Rays are priced at +122. The O/U has been set at 8. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Rich Hill and Sean Manaea.

As a team, the Tampa Bay Rays are scoring 4.3 runs/g, which puts them at 17th in MLB. They have accumulated 137 runs scored and have an on-base percentage of .310. The Rays have accumulated 54 two-baggers as a unit and have hit 33 balls out of the stadium. They have accrued 127 runs batted in and 240 hits this year, and their team batting average is at .223. Tampa Bay has a slugging percentage of .371 and have been rung up 327 times, while drawing a walk on 117 occasions.

The Rays have a team ERA of 3.98 so far this year (16th in the league), and the staff has rung up 289 hitters. Their pitching staff has walked 91 opposing batters and their FIP is 3.58 as a unit this year. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 3.18 and the pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.18. Rays pitchers have allowed 31 home runs and 138 runs in total (20th in the league).

Rays pitchers have gone to the mound with players on base 26 times as well as having 45 appearances in high leverage situations. The relief pitchers have 23 holds over the course of the season (4th in MLB). The Rays relief pitchers have a save percentage of 64.7% and has stepped onto the mound in 40 save situations. They have earned 11 saves on the campaign and have blown 6 of their 17 save opportunities. The relievers have inherited 31 runners on the campaign with 25.8% of them crossed the plate. The Rays have dispatched 98 relievers to the hill so far this year.

The Tampa Bay Rays have amassed 868 putouts on the year, as well as 279 assists and 11 errors. Their fielding percentage is at .991 which ranks 2nd in the majors, and they have twisted 197 double plays. The Rays have transformed 70.4% of balls in play into outs out of 2,604 innings on the field, which has them sitting 15th in the majors.

Hill has taken the ball for 1,001 innings and has totaled 1,063 punch outs so far in his MLB career. Hill (68-45 career record) is the owner of a FIP of 3.95 while he has gone up against 4,198 hitters in the majors. His ERA is 3.86 (429 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.222. He has given up 826 base knocks (7.4 hits per nine innings) and has 398 walks.

The Athletics hold a team slugging % of .392 and they average 4.22 runs per game (19th in baseball). They have recorded 41 doubles, while getting a free base 111 times and scoring 135 runs. Oakland has recorded 42 home runs this season to go along with 127 runs batted in. They have struck out on 286 occasions (10th in MLB) and have earned a total of 226 base knocks. The Oakland Athletics have an on-base percentage of .308 and a batting average of .220 over the course of the season.

The Oakland pitching staff have yielded 142 runs on the season while having a team ERA of 4.18 (131 earned runs allowed). They have surrendered 33 dingers and they relinquish 4.53 runs per 9 innings (18th in the league). The Athletics have a team WHIP of 1.309 in addition to having a FIP of 3.81 as a unit on the season. They have earned a K/BB ratio of 2.98 (271 strikeouts against 91 walks). They are currently ranked 29th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits given up with 278.

Oakland has called on relievers to enter the contest in 10 save opportunities and they have tallied 9 saves. They rank 2nd in the league holding a save rate of 90.0%, and they have dispatched 104 bullpen pitchers to the hill so far this season. Their relievers have stepped onto the mound 28 times in high leverage situations and on 23 occasions with runners on. Oakland bullpen pitchers have an inherited score rate of 43.2% out of their 37 inherited runners. With 23 save situations, the Athletics have recorded 13 holds and also 1 blown save.

The Oakland Athletics have turned 20 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .987 (5th in baseball). The Athletics have accrued 262 assists, 15 errors and have a tally of 846 putouts during this campaign. In their 2,538 innings played, the Athletics have earned a defensive efficiency of 68.3% (26th in MLB).

So far in his career, Manaea has given up 550 hits while earning 480 strikeouts in 581 innings. He has allowed a total of 247 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.197 and having a FIP of 4.0. His K/BB ratio is 3.29 and he has gone up against 2,410 opposing batters during his career. Manaea (42-32 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a 3.82 earned run average and has given up 8.5 hits per nine innings.

Who will win tonight's baseball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Oakland (-132)

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