• The Rays face a must-win in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card series with the Rangers after dropping Game 1 of the best-of-three
• Completely shut down in Game 1, the Tampa offense will need to get to Nathan Eovaldi in Game 2, a pitcher they’ve struggled mightily against
• See the Game 2 Rangers vs Rays odds, picks, and predictions for Wednesday’s elimination game

Tampa Bay’s season is on the line on Wednesday, down 1-0 to the Texas Rangers in the best-of-three Wild Card series. As with Tuesday’s series-opener, Game 2 is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm ET and will kick off another four-game slate in the MLB playoff bracket.

Oddsmakers are siding, slightly, with the Rays in Game 2, setting Tampa as a 150 favorite to force a third and decisive game.

Rangers vs Rays Game 2 Odds

The Rangers come back as +130 underdogs in the MLB odds with the game total sitting at eight runs even.

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In Game 1, the Rangers cashed as +128 underdogs while under 7.5 also hit. The vast majority of public bettors were on the under in Game 1’s MLB public betting splits (66% of run-total handle) but the public also heavily backed the Rays on the moneyline (75% of moneyline handle).

Including the modified 2020 postseason, the history of best-of-three Wild Card series is extremely unkind to teams that lose the opener. In 2020, two of eight teams came back from an 0-1 hole. Last year, none of the four managed the feat, and only one forced a third game. The good news for Tampa is that both teams which managed to overcome a 1-0 hole did so at home, and the Rays tied the Dodgers for best home record in the league during the regular season.

The Rays’ World Series odds took a significant hit after dropping Game 1. Tampa was a +1000 heading into Tuesday and now sits at +1800. Texas improved from +1600 to +1000. Similar movement took place in the AL Pennant odds whereTexas moved from +750 to +450 and Tampa faded from +475 to +900.

Texas vs Tampa Bay Starting Pitchers for Game 2

Texas will roll with Nathan Eovaldi in Wednesday’s MLB lineups, while the Rays will hand the ball to Zach Eflin.

Eflin is in the midst of by far the best season of his career. The former Philly not only set a career high for innings pitched (177.2), he did so while putting up a career-best ERA (3.50), FIP (3.01), and BB/9 (1.22). His 4.8 WAR was 2.5 points higher than during any of the seven seasons he spent in Philadelphia.

Nathan Eovaldi vs Zach Eflin

Very few of the Texas batters have ever faced Eflin before but, encouragingly for Rangers fans, Corey Seager is 3-for-7 with a homer and a double, while Austin Hedges is 2-for-2 with a homer. Only two other Texas hitters have seen Eflin prior: Robbie Grossman and Nathaniel Lowe are both 0-for-1.

Playing in the AL East from 2015 to 2022, Eovaldi has a long history against this Rays lineup, and it’s also encouraging for Texas backers. In 123 at-bats, current Rays hitters are slashing just .187/.254/.276 against the 33-year-old with just one home run courtesy of Brandon Lowe, who has a team-high 25 at-bats against Eovaldi.

Both starters exceeded their strikeout over/under in Tuesday’s MLB player props: Montgomery (4.5) went just over with 5 Ks, while Glasnow (6.5) went two over with 8 Ks.

Texas Rangers vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction for Game 2

The Rays looked uncomfortable at the plate all day against Montgomery, and don’t expect that to change against Eovaldi on Wednesday. The veteran righty’s long history against this lineup speaks for itself. Eovaldi was also one of the few Texas pitchers who performed better on the road (3.56 ERA) than at home (3.70 ERA) in the regular season, all while pitching 12.2 more innings away from home.

Game 2 Rangers vs Rays Pick: Texas Rangers moneyline (+130)

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