Baltimore @ TAMPA BAY
Baltimore +138 over TAMPA BAY

BEST LINES:  Pinnacle +138 BET365 +135 SportsInteraction +135 5DIMES +136

Posted at 1:00 PM EST.

7:10 PM EST. Sergio Romo started two games last weekend for the Rays. He started Saturday with three strikeouts in the first inning and was lifted for reliever Ryan Yarbrough. On Sunday, he pitched 1.1 innings, walking two and striking out three before being relieved by Matt Andriese. Romo is the first pitcher to start a game then do the same thing the next calendar day since Dick Rudolph shut out the Reds on back-to-back days September 24th & 25th, 1914. If at first you succeed, try it again and that seems to be the mindset of Rays’ manager, Kevin Cash. It may work out in the short term but it’s going to inevitably blow-up because a collection of relievers to form a start is a strategy that has been used before and it has always blown up. Relievers are demoted former starters that are erratic and unreliable and therefore spotting a price with this “experiment” becomes a huge risk.

David Hess will make his third start of the year for the Orioles and brings an ugly 6.75 ERA into this start. That surface ERA combined with the Orioles poor record means we get an inflated price on them here and we’re on it. Hess is a 6’2”, 180-pound right-hander out of Tennessee Technological University that has a four-pitch mix with no plus, swing-and-miss offering. His fastball is his best pitch but he’ll throw his slider curve or change at any time. Hess was third in strikeouts in the Eastern League last year, and posted a respectable 3.85 ERA and has been a starter his entire career so he has a starter’s mindset. In his two starts at this level, Hess has walked just two in 10.2 frames while striking out seven but a rough start in Boston torpedoed his surface stats. Hess has good mound presence but this wager is more about fading the Rays makeshift plan to throw relievers out there for nine innings.

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Our Pick

Baltimore +138 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.76)

San Diego under 83½ -105
Boston under 79½ -110