Jim Feist

Jim Feist has the Tampa Bay Rays to complete the sweep over the Cleveland Guardians in his Early Sunday MLB Lineup Prediction.

Through the first two games of this series, Tampa Bay put their foot down. They won 11-3 on Friday before blanking Cleveland 3-0 on Saturday. The Rays racked up 24 hits during those two wins while their pitchers held Cleveland to three runs combined. The Guardians are now mired in a four-game losing streak and have scored four runs over their last three contests.

Drew Rasmussen will take the ball for Tampa Bay and he’ll do so sporting an 8-5 record, 3.28 ERA and 103 strikeouts. Cleveland will have left-handed pitcher Parker Messick take the hill against them, but the Rays should have the advantage anyway. Tampa Bay has gone 19-10 against southpaws this season despite Messick’s strong 2.68 ERA.

Home-field advantage also tilts the scale toward Tampa Bay a bit as they have been exceptional at Tropicana Field this season. Entering play on Sunday, Tampa Bay owns a 35-15 record at home. Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero have combined for six hits over the first two games of this series, and the Rays have received depth contributions across their batting order. Tampa Bay Rays simply have more ways to score runs than Cleveland.

Lastly, Rasmussen will not need to be spectacular in this matchup. He just has to keep attacking this Cleveland lineup that has no clue what to do at the plate right now. Tampa Bay has too many advantages to pick against here.

Jim's Play: 914. Rays 

There is considerably more scoring potential in Sunday’s pitching matchup than there was in the first three games of this series. Kansas City sends Luinder Avila to the mound and he has a 4.21 ERA on the season. He’s also had difficulty going deep into games recently, so Detroit should be able to manufacture traffic against him and get to a Royals bullpen that has seen plenty of work during this four-game series.

Detroit, on the other hand, counters with Framber Valdez, who has been up and down despite some quality starts. Kansas City has the right-handed power to expose the southpaw and Valdez’ recent betting trends also favor OVER plays. The over is 7-for-7 in starts made on four days rest by Valdez this season.

Michael Wacha, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal kept the first three games low-scoring with strong pitching performances. You won’t see that on Sunday as the pitching clearly drops off, both bullpens are tired and the weather will be warm at Comerica Park. The total has settled around 9-to-9 1/2 runs for that reason, but both offenses should produce enough runs to climb into double digits.

Jim's Play: Take: 917. Royals / Tigers OVER (AL Central Total of the Month)

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are worth backing to cover as underdogs against the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday. Montreal may have the superior record, but this spread appears inflated for a divisional matchup that was decided by only three points earlier this season.

Hamilton led for much of that first meeting before Montreal rallied for a 30-27 overtime victory. The Tiger-Cats proved they could move the football against the Alouettes and compete for four quarters, making it difficult to justify laying double digits in the rematch.

Tre Ford’s mobility also gives Hamilton a valuable underdog weapon. His ability to escape pressure, extend drives and create yards outside the structure of the offense can keep Montreal from controlling the game. The Tiger-Cats can further shorten the contest with their rushing attack and prevent the Alouettes from building the number of possessions usually needed to win by a wide margin.

Hamilton also has enough receiving talent to remain dangerous if it falls behind. Kenny Lawler gives the Tiger-Cats a proven downfield target, and Ford’s scrambling ability creates a realistic opportunity for a late touchdown and a backdoor cover.

Montreal deserves to be favored, but asking the Alouettes to win by more than 10 points against a familiar division rival is excessive. Hamilton can stay competitive and remain within one score.

Jim's Play : 693. Hamilton TigerCats