{"id":670820,"date":"2026-04-08T19:49:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T19:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/670820\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T19:49:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T19:49:25","slug":"cubs-vs-rays-prediction-picks-odds-for-todays-mlb-game-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/670820\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs vs Rays Prediction, Picks & Odds for Today’s MLB Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Andrew Caley<\/a>
\n \u2022 Senior Betting Analyst<\/p>\n

14+ years betting experience<\/p>\n

\n Updated:
\nApr 8, 2026 , 01:54 PM ET<\/p>\n

\u2022 4 min read<\/p>\n

Andrew Caley’s MLB predictions like the Rays hot bats do their thing against Colin Rea and a struggling Cubs bullpen.<\/p>\n

\"MLB<\/p>\n

Photo By – Reuters Connect. Junior Caminero celebrates a win for Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Cubs\u2019 rotation has already been beaten up this season, which means they\u2019re handing the ball to journeyman pitcher Colin Rea for his first start of the year in the rubber match of this series against the Tampa Bay Rays.<\/p>\n

Tampa counters with Joe Boyle, who is hoping to be the Rays’ latest reclamation pitching project.<\/p>\n

My Cubs vs. Rays predictions and MLB picks<\/a> break down this interleague matchup with the first pitch scheduled for 6:40 pm ET at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, April 8.<\/p>\n

Who will win Cubs vs Rays today: Rays (-110)<\/p>\n

The Chicago Cubs<\/a> and Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> enter this rubber match with matching 5-6 records, but I like the home team to improve its record tonight.<\/p>\n

The Rays’ lineup, led by Junior Caminero<\/a> and Jonathan Aranda<\/a>, is off to a great start. Tampa Bay ranks sixth in OPS and fifth in wRC+ and gets a solid matchup against the Cubs\u2019\u00a0Colin Rea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The veteran right-hander has pitched to a 4.26 ERA in two relief appearances this season. And if Rea can\u2019t go deep into the game, he hands the ball to a bullpen that ranks next-to-last in xERA.<\/p>\n

\"Covers\" COVERS INTEL: Current Rays hitters have combined for a .356 xAVG and a .609 xSLG vs. Rea.<\/p>\n

Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account \"Add<\/a>Cubs vs Rays Over\/Under pick: Under 8 (-110)<\/p>\n

Joe Boyle<\/a> spent the better part of the last three seasons toiling away with the Athletics, but the Rays saw something in the 26-year-old right-hander, and the early results have been impressive.<\/p>\n

Boyle has allowed four earned runs on eight hits while striking out 16 over his first two starts with Tampa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cubs’ bats have been a little slow to get going, ranking 22nd in batting average and 16th in wRC+.<\/p>\n

Even though I like the Rays to do some scoring, the Cubs won’t do enough to send this one Over the total.<\/p>\n

Andrew Caley’s 2026 Transparency Record<\/p>\n

ML\/RL bets: 3-2, +0.7 units
\nOver\/Under bets: 3-2, +0.8 units<\/p>\n

Cubs vs Rays odds<\/p>\n

Moneyline: Cubs -110 | Rays -110
\nRun line: Cubs -1.5 (+155) | Rays +1.5 (-185)
\nOver\/Under: Over 8.0 | Under 8.0<\/p>\n

Cubs vs Rays trend<\/p>\n

The Cubs have only covered the Run Line in 16 of their last 45 away games for -17.00 Units and a -30% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends<\/a> for Cubs vs. Rays.<\/p>\n

How to watch Cubs vs Rays and game info<\/p>\n

Location
\nTropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL<\/p>\n

Date
\nWednesday, April 8, 2026<\/p>\n

First pitch
\n6:40 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

TV
\nMarquee, RAYS<\/p>\n

Cubs starting pitcher
\nColin Rea
(0-0, 4.26 ERA)<\/p>\n

Rays starting pitcher
\nJoe Boyle
(0-0, 3.18 ERA)<\/p>\n

Cubs vs Rays latest injuries<\/p>\n

Cubs vs Rays weather<\/p>\n

Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.<\/p>\n

Pages related to this topic<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

When his dreams of becoming the next Steve Nash died, all Andrew “Taco” Caley wanted to do was write about sports, something he’s been doing at Covers for more than a decade. A Journalism School grad from Holland College in Charlottetown, PEI, Andrew previously worked at The Chronicle Herald and Star Metro, but knew in his heart that his future lay in sports. He began at Covers as a news editor and has now done everything under the sun when it comes to content. His work has been seen on TSN, Sportsnet, VSiN, and CBS. These days Andrew’s betting expertise is focused on his favorite teams; the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Raptors. He’s also an avid college football fan and bettor. He can’t be friends with you if you don’t appreciate a Service Academy Under. The sportsbook where he does the bulk of his betting is bet365 thanks to its numerous prop betting options and competitive odds. His best advice? Find the balance between the numbers and what you see on the playing field. Then find the best price using multiple books. And don\u2019t ask him where the nickname Taco comes from. It’s not an interesting story. Seriously.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Caley \u2022 Senior Betting Analyst 14+ years betting experience Updated: Apr 8, 2026 , 01:54 PM ET…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2377],"tags":[5,4,297,2550,68,2551,2549],"class_list":{"0":"post-670820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-rays","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-rays","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabayrays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116370827502870707","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}