Rays vs Brewers Prediction: World Series Game 2 Picks and Best Bet

Drew Rasmussen against the team that drafted him, Logan Henderson against a lineup that just made him work, and a Brewers club that has only one more win to bank before this series gets very lopsided in history terms.

Quick take:

• Pick: Tampa Bay Rays moneyline (+102 to +106)
• Why: Rasmussen has been the best starter on either side this October, and the Rays get plus money to even the series.
• The number to watch: The Rays are 14-1 in Rasmussen’s 15 starts since the All-Star break.

The Milwaukee Brewers took Game 1 of the World Series 3-2 on Friday night, and they did it the way a 103-win team is supposed to: score early, lean on a dominant arm, and let the bullpen survive a wild ninth. Now the Tampa Bay Rays (98-64) head into American Family Field for Game 2 on Saturday at 8:00 PM ET trying to avoid a 2-0 hole.

It would be a deep one. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven World Series have gone on to win it 45 times in 55 tries.

Milwaukee has been outstanding at home, going 55-26 at American Family Field this season. The Rays were a modest 43-38 on the road, which is the one number that makes this a real test rather than a coin flip dressed up as a pick.

A Near Pick’em Line With a Rested Ace on the Other Side

The market sees this as close to even. The Brewers are around -122 to -127 on the moneyline depending on the book, the Rays sit at roughly +102 to +106, and the total is set at 6.5 runs. For a home team that won 103 games and just took the opener, that is a very short price, and the reason is sitting on the visiting mound. When the road side is plus money with the better starter, that is where the value tends to live. You can compare the current prices across books on our live MLB odds page before you lock anything in.

Recent Form

Both teams arrived here on a roll, and the form tables below show how they got through October. Head-to-head history between these two is thin, so the real story is how each club has been playing against everyone else.

Showing 10 of last 10 meetings

Rasmussen’s October Run Tilts the Mound Matchup

Start with the pitcher the Rays chose to hold back. Tampa Bay passed on Drew Rasmussen for Game 1 and gave him an extra day of rest instead, a decision that looks smarter the longer you stare at his numbers. He went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP across the regular season, and since the All-Star break he is 11-0 with a 1.73 ERA, 99 strikeouts and just 18 walks in 93 2/3 innings. In the postseason he is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP, with 23 strikeouts against only three walks in 21 innings.

There is also a personal angle. Milwaukee drafted Rasmussen in the sixth round in 2018 and gave him his first big-league innings before trading him to Tampa Bay in 2021.

The Rays are 14-1 in Rasmussen’s 15 starts since the All-Star break.

Logan Henderson is no pushover, and that is why this is not a lopsided call. The rookie went 11-3 with a 2.47 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP, and the Brewers are 21-4 in his 25 career starts, including 2-0 in these playoffs. His postseason line is a more modest 3.00 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP and five walks in nine innings. He also got tagged for four runs, two earned, in NLCS Game 2 against the Dodgers, the first time in 25 career starts he allowed more than three.

Tampa Bay’s lineup gives him plenty to worry about. Junior Caminero hit 42 home runs and drove in 101 runs, and Jonathan Aranda is 12-for-38 with a homer and five RBIs over his last 10 games. Yandy Diaz, penciled in at the top of the order, gives the lineup a veteran bat ahead of them.

The Rays did not hit much in Game 1, mustering seven hits and nine strikeouts against Jacob Misiorowski and a Milwaukee bullpen that held on for dear life, but they still pushed the tying run to second base in the ninth. Brewers closer Trevor Megill had to strike out Jonny DeLuca with runners on second and third to end it. That is a lineup that was close to making this a very different series.

Milwaukee’s offense struck early in the opener. Christian Yelich tripled home a run in the first inning and William Contreras followed with an RBI single, and Jackson Chourio added an RBI double in the seventh. Contreras and Chourio each had two hits, and Contreras also threw out two would-be base stealers. The Brewers do not need a big night from Henderson, they need five clean innings and a bullpen that has been trusted all October.

Still, Game 1 told us something about both sides. Milwaukee scored only on a couple of well-timed swings and survived. Tampa Bay put up a fight without its best bats clicking. If the Rays top three get going against a rookie still working through his first postseason, the ace on the other side may only need to give them six decent innings.

Prediction and Best Bet

Take the pitching edge and the plus price. Rasmussen is the best arm on the field Saturday night, the Rays bullpen is rested with an off day coming Sunday, and Henderson, while good, has shown that a deep October lineup can get to him. Milwaukee’s home field and a 1-0 lead keep this tight, so expect a low-scoring game that comes down to the late innings.

The pick:

1. Prediction: Rays 4, Brewers 3
2. Best Bet: Rays on the moneyline

Plus money on the team with the hotter starter and the fresher bullpen is a price worth taking, even in a hostile ballpark.