Chicago Cubs vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/08/26

The 3-game interleague series between the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays wraps up on Wednesday with a rubber match after the Rays emerged victorious 6-4 on Monday and the Cubs won 9-2 on Tuesday. Chicago will send Colin Rea to the mound, while the Rays will counter with Joe Boyle. Neither pitcher has been notably elite through 2 starts, as neither has a win. 

Rea has lasted no more than 3.1 innings in each of his starts, and he allowed at least 1 earned run and 4 base runners in both of those outings against the Guardians and Angels. Furthermore, the current Rays lineup is hitting .389 (14/36) against Rea. Meanwhile, Boyle allowed 3 baserunners and 2 earned runs to the Cardinals in his first start and followed that up with another 2 earned runs and 7 base runners against the Twins. With so much traffic on the bases against below-average offenses, I’m liking runs in this matchup.

The bullpens should be able to assist with a high-scoring game environment. The Rays have the highest bullpen ERA in the league right now (7.49), and the Cubs aren’t entirely too far behind (4.57). In fact, both are bottom 7 in HR allowed through the first few weeks of the season. This is not a getaway spot given the mutual day off ahead of their respective divisional series coming up this weekend, so I’m taking the over in this one.

Cubs vs Rays prediction: Over 8 (-112) available at time of publishing. Playable to -120.

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