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Two teams with very differing fortunes in the MLB so far this season meet at Tropicana Field on Friday as the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks come into the game with the one of the best records in the entire league after 69 wins and 53 defeats so far, but they’ll be coming up against the Rays on the road, who have an overall record of 59-61 so far this season.
We’ll take a look at the clash and provide you with our best free MLB betting picks to try and earn you some extra cash while you take in the action on the field.
| MLB |  |  |  |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Tampa Bay Rays | TBC | TBC | TBC |
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Arizona Diamondbacks vs Tampa Bay Rays information
- Friday, August 16th 2024
- Tropicana Field, St Petersburg, Florida
- 18:50 ET
- Diamondbacks starting pitcher: Ryne Nelson
- Rays starting pitcher: Ryan Pepiot
Arizona Diamondbacks season so far
Arizona began their campaign with a win in each of their first two games, before a horror run of seven defeats in nine games including three-in-a-row against the Atlanta Braves. Following that they bounced back with a run of four wins in five, as they ended the month of April with a record of 14-17.
May wasn’t much better as they lost their first three games of the month to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, before finding form and going on a four-game winning streak which included three victories in a row against the Cincinnati Reds. But they failed to win or lose three games in a row for the rest of the month until May 26, where they started a five-game losing skid to end the month with an overall record of 25-32.
As the team hit June they improved greatly, and they opened the month with four wins in a row and five wins in their first six games. The Padres once again caused them issues and beat them twice before the Diamondbacks put together another excellent run of eight wins in their next 11 games. Arizona then lost five of their final eight games of the month to continue their inconsistent form.
In July they started impressively, winning back-to-back games on three different occasions including their four-game winning streak which included two victories apiece over the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. After the All-Star break the team went on a run of 9-3 to end the month in great form, and have started August well too.
So far this month the D-Backs have gone 11-2 with a four-game winning streak, followed by defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies, which in turn sparked a stunning six-game winning streak coming into this match, which has shot them up the standings.
Tampa Bay Rays season so far
The Rays have struggled this season to really gather any momentum, and there poor record shows it too.
Tampa went 5-5 in their opening ten games of the campaign against the Blue Jays, Rangers and Rockies, before a three-game winning streak with two victories against the Angels. But they wouldn’t win consecutive games again in April as they went on a run of 11 defeats in 17 games to end the month with a 14-17 record.
May was another strange month as they claimed a 14-13 record, picking up five wins in a row over the Mets and White Sox after an initial opening defeat to the Brewers. The Rays then lost four of their next six games before another impressive winning run saw them claim victory in their next four. That was followed by a horrible six-game losing streak though, before they ended the month with three wins from their final five as their inconsistency continued.
June saw Tampa face off with the Orioles six times in their first eight games of the month and they only managed to win once, with a four-game losing streak capping off that run. After a hot and cold run they ended the month with a run of eight wins in 11 to move to 14-12 for the month. Then in July they went 6-6 before the All-Star game break, before going 7-5 after it including a three-game winning run at the end of the month.
So far in August they have really struggled with a 4-8 record to this point, with five defeats in their last six games to give them an overall record of 59-61.
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MLB Picks: Arizona Diamondbacks to win
Arizona Diamondbacks have been the stand out team in the MLB recently, and offensively there aren’t many teams who can hold a candle to them currently.
The D-Backs have scored more runs than anyone else in the entire league (644), have the second-best batting average (.261), second best on-base percentage (.333) and fourth-best slugging percentage (.434).
Their pitching hasn’t been the strongest though, but they should still have more than enough to power past the Rays on the road in the first of their three-game series.
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