The Tampa Bay Rays have won five of their last six games and go for the series win at home against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
After dropping the series opener in extras, Tampa Bay responded with an 8-4 win Saturday and will send Chris Archer to the mound today for his first appearance since April.
With the way the New York Yankees are playing, the Rays are suddenly feeling a daily sense of urgency. Find out if we like them to win with our free MLB betting picks and predictions for White Sox vs. Rays on August 22.
White Sox vs Rays game info
• Location: Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay, FL
• Date: Sunday, August 22, 2021
• Time: 1:10 p.m. ET
• TV: TBS
White Sox vs Rays odds
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White Sox vs Rays betting preview
Starting pitchers
Reynaldo Lopez (2-0, 1.08 ERA): Lopez has mostly worked as a reliever this season, but he gave up no runs in five innings in a 9-0 win over the Oakland Athletics on August 17. Lopez only gave up one hit in that start, and he’ll now look to build on it with a win over the Rays. For what it’s worth, Lopez has shown some impressive swing-and-miss ability out of the bullpen this year, but he only struck out four batters against Oakland last start.
Chris Archer (0-1, 6.23 ERA): Archer has only pitched four innings all year and this is his first trip to the hill since April 10. The righty was once one of the game’s most impressive starters, but he hasn’t had a sub-4.00 ERA since 2015 and hasn’t shown many signs of finding his groove. Also, with Archer coming off such a lengthy absence, it’s fair to wonder how he’ll look in this game.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
White Sox: Billy Hamilton OF (Out), Yasmani Grandal C (Out).
Rays: Nick Anderson RP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Rays are 44-17 in their last 61 games as favorites. Find more MLB betting trends for White Sox vs. Rays.
Moneyline pick
Lopez isn’t used to throwing a lot of innings coming into this meeting with Tampa Bay, and this offense should give him some trouble this afternoon. Nelson Cruz is 5-for-14 with two doubles, a homer, and four RBIs off Lopez in his career, and Austin Meadows is 3-for-7 with a triple and a homer off the righty. Those are two of Tampa Bay’s most important hitters, so Lopez is going to run into some trouble if he can’t get them out in this one.
It’s only more challenging when considering that Lopez will also have to deal with Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe, who just so happens to have 22 homers and 56 RBIs against right-handed pitching this year.
While Archer hasn’t pitched in the majors since April, he did look decent in his rehab assignments coming into this start. The righty threw 5 2-3 innings and gave up three runs over two appearances in the minors over the last few weeks, and now heads back to Tropicana Field. Some of Archer’s best work was with the Rays and he has a career 3.29 ERA when pitching in Tampa. Perhaps the team will get something out of him in this stint. Regardless, the Rays offense should be able to do enough to pull this one out.
PREDICTION: Tampa Bay (-132)
Over/Under pick
The first two games in this series went Over the total, and the Rays have actually hit the Over in five of their last six (with the other game ending as a push). With these teams both hitting pretty well coming into this game, there’s no reason to believe that they won't go Over once again.
Lopez has been a sturdy option for the White Sox all year, but it’s not easy to just stretch out somebody into a starter. The righty’s last start went pretty well, but he’ll eventually run into some trouble. Perhaps that’ll come against a Rays offense that is one of the league’s best, ranking second in the majors in homers and OPS since the All-Star break.
Archer, meanwhile, has been miserable the last few seasons and is coming off an extended absence. That’s not a recipe for a good performance.
PREDICTION: Over 9.0 (-108)
White Sox vs Rays betting card
- Tampa Bay (-132)
- Over 9.0 (-108)
Picks made on 8/22/2021 at 1:05 a.m. ET
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