Angels at Rays – MLB Free Pick and Preview 8-20-08
August 20, 2008
What a story the Tama Bay Rays are this year. Everyone was so busy waiting around for them to collapse to the Red Sox or the Yankees that it doesn’t seem like anyone noticed that they are one of the best stories in recent baseball history. Tampa finished 2007 at 66-96, thirty games below .500, this year they are leading the AL East, 4.5 games ahead of Boston and nearly thirty games over .500. They’ve done it with great young players, in particular young pitching that has matured much faster than anyone expected.
The Rays have also enjoyed some of the best success in baseball at home this season (46-17), which is also one of the main reasons I like them Wednesday against the Angels.
The Angels have traditionally dominated Tampa, but a lot of teams dominated Tampa before this season. In 2008 the Rays actually hold a 5-2 advantage over LA.
One of the angels I always like to consider is motivation. Who has the motivation in today’s game? The Angels are winning the AL Central by 15.5 games. They can coast into the playoffs without breaking a sweat. Sometimes the ability to relax and just play can help a team win, but at the end of a season, against a team like Tampa Bay, who is very motivated to win, that idea can change drastically. As I mentioned before, the Rays are currently enjoying a 4.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox for the AL East pennant. There’s no way for them to relax and coast into the post-season. While it’s likely that they would be in position to grab a playoff spot through the Wild Card, it would be a perfect ending to a magical season for the Rays to win a pennant.
Beyond motivation, there are also strong statistical trends favoring the Rays Wednesday. Tampa Bay is has won 6 of their last 7 overall and 42 of their last 52 games at home. The Angels seem to be getting very relaxed as they’ve lost 4 of their last 5 overall and 6 of their last 7 road games.
There are plenty of reasons to get behind the Rays this season because they are a great story. We are getting behind the Rays Wednesday night because of their strong motivation to stay atop the NL East standings, and the pure fact that they are the hotter of the two teams playing.
LAA ANGELS @ TAMPA BAY RAYS
J. Weaver (10-9, 4.47), M. Garza (10-7, 3.63)
Wednesday’s Free Pick: Tampa Bay Rays -125
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