TAMPA BAY RAYS @ DETROIT TIGERS
Baseball : United States : MLB Regular Season
Monday, August 9th 2010 - Start 7:05PM ET
(12:05AM GMT)

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Both these offenses are struggling at the moment, so I'm thinking under on this one.

TAMPA BAY RAYS
(67-44 W/L, 33-21 Road, 4-6 Last 10, L5 Streak)

Tampa Bay come into this having managed to get just 1 hit against the pitching of Brandon Morrow in Toronto last night. They've now travelled to the Motor City and will be hopping to get the bats swinging, but also to restrict Detroits scoring. To achieve this, Tampa will hand the ball to left-handed David Price.

Price has some great numbers this season - 14-5 with a 2.82 ERA. He is 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA in his last 3 starts and has already led Tampa to a win against Detroit. In that game, he gave up 2 runs and 7 hits in 6.1 innings. Last year, he held Detroit to just 1 run and 5 hits in Detroit.

Among the batters he will face tonight are Damon, Peralta, Cabrera, Raburn, Laird and Jackson, all of whom have some truly awful numbers against Price, sub .150. Indeed, as a team, Detroit isn't too hot with the bats.

They did score 18 runs in their last 2 games, but before then they had scored a total of just 8 runs in their previous 4 games. Price looks to have their number and that will count for something here.

DETROIT TIGERS
(54-57 W/L, 37-22 Home, 3-7 Last 10, W1 Streak)

Armando Galarraga will start for Detroit tonight. He owns a 3-4 record with a 4.32 ERA this season, but is actually in better form recently. Galarraga is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in his last 3 starts, and 2 of those games went under.

Bartlett, Shoppach, Upton and Crawford all stink to high heaven against Galarraga, and will be dreading tonight, seeing as they're struggling as it is with their form.

In their last 10 game, Tampa have scored a total of just 39 runs, an average of just 3.9 per game.

BETTING VERDICT

Both teams have very strong closers. The bullpens on both sides have ERAs below 3.20 on the season, so can be relied on to steady with ship if any of the starters were to stumble (not that I'm expecting that!)

Expect a pitchers duel while the bats stay cool. Under.

The Pick :

Under 8.5 runs

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Under 8.5 runs @ 1.95 (Pinnacle) - MAIN BET