Tony Weston

FRIDAY'S PLAYS

15 Dime Rays

5 Dime Patriots

Rays at Tigers
RAYS - Still in the wildcard chase the Tampa Bay Rays have been playing strong baseball lately, having won 8 of their last 11 games. Tonight, the Rays will make it 9 of 12 as they get over on the road at the Detroit Tigers.

Coming into this game the Rays have gone 12-5 their last 17 games against the AL Central and now face a Detroit Tigers team that’s just .500 its last 16 games and is just 2-3 its last 5 games overall.

Consider, too, the Tigers are just 4-10 their last 14 games against the AL East and have won just 32 of their last 98 games when installed as an underdog.

Detroit now also has to deal with Rays scheduled starting pitcher Matt Garza, who, despite not factoring into any decisions his last four starts has pitched well for Tampa. The team is 3-1 his last four starts and has won 5 of his last 7 starts.

It’ll be another victory for Tampa with Garza on the mound as the Rays get over on the Tigers.



Patriots at Redskins
PATRIOTS - While it hasn’t been an annual meeting between the New England Patriots and Washington Redskins the outcome has still gone one way when these two have hooked up this decade in the preseason.

When these two met in the 2000 preseason the Washington Redskins got over 30-20 as a 6-point favorite. But since then the Pats have gone a perfect 4-0 SU and ATS in preseason meetings against the Skins, including a huge 41-0 beating their last August matchup in 2006. In that four-game preseason stretch New England has beaten Washington by an average of 20.5 points per game.

Consider, too, not only has Washington struggled against the Pats, but the Redskins have had trouble with just about everyone in the preseason in recent years.

Washington has won SU and covered just 6 times its last 18 preseason games and is just 2-4 SU and ATS its last 6 home games in August.

Also, in Week 3 the Redskins have been horrible in recent memory, having gone just 1-3 SU and ATS its last four full August Week 3 games and have been outscored their last three by a combined 116-6.

It’ll be another easy win for the Patriots as they roll past the Redskins.