MLB Playoffs Odds: Can The Braves And Rays Close Out Thursday?

• Thursday features another day jam-packed with playoff baseball as the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays go for their third and final win of the divisional round.
• The Braves are the betting favorite at -137 odds to win behind pitcher Kyle Wright, who will face off against Miami Marlins rising star Sixto Sanchez.
• The Rays are the underdog yet again at +118 odds and will look to complete another upset with Ryan Thompson taking on Jordan Montgomery for the New York Yankees.

LAS VEGAS – The divisional round of the MLB playoffs has been nothing short of spectacular so far, with tremendous action and drama on display throughout the week.

Needing only three wins to advance, all four of the divisional series are in danger of wrapping up Thursday.

Two of those series will certainly draw the attention of bettors looking to get in on the action.

The Atlanta Braves are looking for the sweep against the Miami Marlins but will have to get through the newest South Beach flamethrower in Sixto Sanchez to do so.

The New York Yankees are also in serious trouble after dropping game three to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays will look to advance with a win tonight behind Ryan Thompson.

Full betting odds and lines for these series are currently available across all of the major online sportsbooks.

Betting the Braves And The Marlins

The first pitch of the day will be between the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins, and it will come from Marlins pitcher Sixto Sanchez.

Sanchez burst onto the scene in August and quickly became a troublemaker for even the toughest lineups in the NL East. Through 39 innings this season, Sanchez earned a 3.46 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP, with 33 strikeouts.

Needless to say, if there was a lineup that would have no trouble against Sanchez, it is the Braves. Atlanta has 16 hits so far through the first two games of this series.

The problem for Atlanta isn’t the lineup, it’s the starting pitching. After massive injuries, opt-outs, and minor league assignments, the Braves have been forced to roll with some lesser firepower coming out of the gate.

Somehow, they have managed to make it this far on the back of their explosive hitting, in addition to key evolutions from Max Fried and rookie Ian Anderson, who threw six shutout innings in Wednesday’s Game 2.

The Braves will turn to young Kyle Wright in Game 3, who earned a 5.21 ERA over 38 innings this season, with a 1.553 WHIP.

If the Marlins are going to win a game in this series, it is certainly this one, with their best pitching weapon going up against an inexperienced reliever-turned emergency starter for the Braves.

Betting the Rays And The Yankees

After dropping Game 1, the Tampa Bay Rays have now rattled off back to back victories over the New York Yankees, and are in position to close out the series Thursday night.

The story of the matchup so far has been the unstoppable bulldozer known as Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena. Arozarena is currently batting .600 over the postseason, including home runs in three straight games, three games with three or more hits, and at least one extra-base hit in five straight games.

Naturally, this includes the solo shot he hit off of Masahiro Tanaka to send the pitcher to the locker room in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s Game 3, putting the Rays up 5-1.

While it would be other-worldly to expect Arozarena to continue this blistering pace, baseball bettors would be remiss to bet against this explosive Rays lineup right now.

The Yankees were the pre-playoff favorites to reach the World Series out of the AL and certainly have the ability to come back into this series. However, the lack of firepower to match this Tampa Bay lineup, in addition to an inconsistent Jordan Montgomery on the mound Thursday, could simply be too much for the Yankees to overcome.