The American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays entered their weekend showdown with the division-rival Baltimore Orioles having been swept in a home series just once this season. They're hoping to keep that number from doubling on Monday. Make your MLB picks at BetMGM Sportsbook and get up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your first bet loses: Tampa Bay (74-49) attempts to avoid a four-game sweep when its hosts Baltimore (61-63) at 6:05 p.m.
ET in the series finale at Tropicana Field in St. The Rays lost three home contests against the Detroit Tigers in the beginning of June, marking the only time they've been swept at home this year. The club was on the wrong side of a series sweep three times in the first half of the season, with one of those occurring at Baltimore in late May.
The Rays are on the verge of being swept a second time since the All-Star break as they began the second half with four losses to the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park. Tampa Bay, which has seen its lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East shrink to 5 1/2 games, dropped a pair of one-run decisions to Baltimore before getting thumped 10-2 on Sunday. The Orioles have won five of their last seven contests to climb into the third wild-card berth, one-half game ahead of the Texas Rangers.
The race for the playoff spot is extremely tight, as seven teams -- all with records under .500 -- are separated by just 2 1/2 games. Nine other games are on MLB's Monday evening schedule, including the opener of a key three-game set between the Miami Marlins (64-61) and host Philadelphia Phillies (67-58) at 6:40 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies, who occupy a wild-card berth in the National League, are coming off a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins, while the Marlins posted back-to-back victories over the Cincinnati Reds after losing the opener of their series.
Miami, which is three games back in the wild-card race, followed a franchise-record 12-game skid by sweeping Philadelphia at home in late July. Bet on Monday's MLB games with the FanDuel promo code and get up to $1,000 in Bet Resets when you bet $5 for 5 days: Meanwhile, the red-hot San Diego Padres (67-58) look to tighten their grip on an NL wild-card berth when they visit the New York Mets (56-69) at 7:10 p.m. ET for the opener of a three-game series at Citi Field.
The Padres have won seven of their last eight contests and are 17-5 over their past 22. San Diego and Philadelphia both are one game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the wild-card race. The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers (74-51) attempt to bounce back from a rough weekend as they begin a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies (50-74) at 8:40 p.m.
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