The Seattle Mariners and the Tampa Bay Rays clash this week at Tropicana Field in a three-game series starting this Tuesday night. Game 1 is set to get underway at 7:10 p.m. (ET), and it will be available on MLB Extra Innings.

Seattle’s 2-0 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday as a -200 home favorite was just its second win in its last six games. It is 4-6 in its last 10 games and 54-63 overall. The Mariners have a 23-31 record on the road this season, and the total has gone “over” in four of their last five games.

                                                                  
Tampa Bay has lost some serious ground in the AL East race against Boston with a 3-7 record in its last 10 games that includes a five-game losing streak heading into this series. This past weekend the Rays were beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers three straight times to fall three games back in the division. They are 66-50 overall and 37-21 at home.

Mariners at Rays Betting Storylines

The Mariners have been a middle-of-the-road team in the American League this season in pitching with a team ERA of 4.25, but one of their biggest problems has been hitting the ball consistently with a .244 team batting average that is ranked 12thin the AL. They have done a better job at getting runners across the plate with an average of four runs a game. Kendrys Morales has anchored this lineup with 64 RBI, but Raul Ibanez (58 RBI and 24 home runs) and Kyle Seager (54 RBI and 17 home runs) have provided some serious lumber as well.

Seattle will go with Erasmo Ramirez as its starter for Tuesday night. He skipped his last scheduled start in the rotation, so he will be pitching on nine full days of rest. The right-hander missed much of the season with an elbow injury, but he now is 3-0 this season in three starts. While the record is impressive, Ramirez has benefitted from some healthy run support after posting an ERA of 7.13 in those three outings.

Tampa Bay’s production at the plate has been extremely spotty since the calendar turned the page to August. It has scored a combined total of 24 runs in its last eight games, with 14 of them coming in back-to-back losses to Arizona and the Dodgers. On the year, the Rays are ranked sixth in the AL in hitting with a team batting average of .261 and ranked seventh in scoring with an average of 4.5 runs a game.

The Rays’ pitching has remained fairly solid this season with a staff ERA of 3.87. They will send Chris Archer to the mound as their starter for this series opener. The right-hander suffered some soreness in right forearm the last time out, but he should be ready to go come Tuesday night. Archer is 6-4 on the year with a 2.71 ERA in 13 previous starts. He has allowed more than three earned runs in just one of his last 10 outings.

Mariners at Rays MLB Betting Odds and Trends

BetOnline has opened the Mariners as +190 road underdogs for Tuesday night’s series opener with Tampa Bay listed as a -205 home favorite. The total has been set at 8.

The Mariners are 6-4 in their last 10 road games but just 3-7 in their 10 games against the AL East. The total has gone over in four of their last five games on the road.

The Rays are 5-2 in their last seven games against a team from the AL West and 12-3 in their last 15 home games. The total has stayed “under” in their last 11 games at home.

This will be the first meeting between the two this season, but Seattle has won four of the last five games in this series. The total has stayed under in nine of the last 10 meetings.

MLB Picks: Mariners at Rays Predictions

One of the most prevalent trends in this matchup over the past few seasons has been low-scoring games. The winning team has scored more than four runs just once in the last 10 meetings. Look for that trend to continue on Tuesday night as this game once again stays under the total.

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