Two scuffling teams meet in Motown tonight looking to break out of their respective funks when the Rays (77-53) take the field at Comerica Park against the Tigers (61-69). Tampa Bay continues to lead the AL East but their six-game lead has been cut in half as they have won just three of their last ten games. Detroit’s burst north in the AL Central standings following the Taryk Skubal trade was short lived as they have lost five in a row to fall to 3.5 back in the Wild Card chase and seven games back of the division-leading White Sox.
Tampa Bay hands the ball Drew Rasmussen (13-5, 3.01 ERA), one of the American League’s most dominant starters. The righthander will be looking to bounce back from a rough outing against Toronto last Wednesday when he allowed five earned runs over five innings. Prior to that start, Rasmussen had been exceptional his previous five starts throwing 30 innings and allowing just four runners to cross home plate. Overall this season, Rasmussen has been more effective on the road than at home. His ERA is a sparkling 2.79 away from Tropicana Field
Detroit counters with veteran left-hander Framber Valdez (8-8, 4.35 ERA). Like the Tigers, Valdez has been beat up of late allowing eight earned runs in his last 11.1 innings across his last two starts. Prior to that, the southpaw had given up just four earned runs over his previous three starts (19 innings).
This is the fourth meeting of the season between these clubs. Detroit has won each of the first three games.
Lets dive into tonight’s matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Rays vs. Tigers
- Date: Monday, August 24, 2026
- Time: 6:40PM EST
- Site: Comerica Park
- City: Detroit, MI
- Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, FS1, Rays.TV, Tigers.TV
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The Latest Odds: Rays vs. Tigers
The latest odds as of Monday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Tampa Bay Rays (-130), Detroit Tigers (+121)
- Spread: Rays -1.5 (+123), Tigers +1.5 (-149)
- Total: 7.5 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers and their Stats: Rays vs. Tigers for August 24
- Rays: Drew Rasmussen
Season Totals: 134.1 IP, 13-5, 3.01 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 138K, 25 BB - Tigers: Framber Valdez
Season Totals: 138.2 IP, 8-8, 4.35 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 111K, 54 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Rays vs. Tigers
- Javy Baez is 1-6 with 3 strikeouts in his career against Drew Rasmussen
- Yandy Diaz is 3-12 with 5 BBs in his career against Framber Valdez
- Cedric Mullins has gone yard once in 5 ABs in his career against Valdez
- Kevin McGonigle was 4-12 with 1 HR and 4 RBIs over the weekend in Kansas City
- Spencer Torkelson does not have a hit in his last 8GP (0-21)
- Chandler Simpson is riding a 14-game hitting streak (24-59)
- Yandy Diaz was 3-13 over the weekend at Baltimore
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: Rays vs. Tigers
- The Tigers are 65-65 on the Run Line this season
- The Rays are 72-58 on the Run Line this season
- The OVER has cashed 59 times in Tampa Bay’s 130 games this season (59-66-5)
- The OVER has cashed 57 times in Detroit’s 130 games this season (57-67-6)
BOS maintains grip on Wild Card spot after sweep
Jason Benetti, Lou Merloni and Hunter Pence break down how the Red Sox displayed their brand of baseball in their sweep against the Giants, who have to find a way to get “over the hump.”
Expert picks & predictions: Rays vs. Tigers
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Rays and the Tigers:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Rays on the Run Line.
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 7.5
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