Rays vs. Orioles prediction and odds for Tuesday, May 9 (Trust Grayson Rodriguez to bounce back)

The Orioles have been one of the most impressive stories in baseball this season, but not more than the best team in baseball in the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays have been the best offense with the best pitching staff all year, pretty good mix. However, the Orioles rebuild is over and the time to compete is now. One of the key cogs to making the step as an AL contender is Baltimore rookie Grayson Rodriguez, who has shown flashes of brilliance this season. Can he shut down the best offense in baseball?

Here are the odds for Orioles vs. Rays with Rodriguez facing off against resurgent Tampa Bay starter Zach Eflin.

Rays vs. Orioles odds, run line and total

Rays vs. Orioles prediction and pick

Eflin has been stellar this season, posting a 2.25 ERA through five starts in his first season with the Rays. However, I still fancy the matchup for the Orioles lineup that is elite at drawing walks (third in the bigs) and also strikes out at a bottom third rate. This team is constantly putting pressure on the opposing pitcher.

While Rodriguez has been up and down, we have seen the greatness from the rookie already. Before getting knocked around by the Royals last time out, allowing six earned runs in less than four innings, he was off back-to-back shutout outings.

While the Rays are tops in the bigs in batting average and home runs, I'm going to side with the rookie to show out as a rookie on Tuesday in a high level AL East matchup, avoiding letting the recent start to cloud my thoughts on the right hander.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.