Rays vs Brewers World Series Game 1 Prediction and Betting Odds

The Tampa Bay Rays will take on the Milwaukee Brewers in this year’s Major League Baseball World Series.

Game 1 will take place on Saturday, October 24, with the first pitch at 11:00 AEST. It is the first of a potential seven-game series, with the winners being crowned baseball’s world champions.

Quick Picks

Our pick: Brewers to win

Value bet: Over for Rasmussen strikeouts

Long shot: Turang homer

Betting Preview

The Milwaukee Brewers swept aside the two-time defending champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the National League Championship Series to reach the World Series.

The Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, defeated the Cleveland Guardians 4-2 in the American League Championship Series.

It’s perhaps fitting that these two teams will be playing in the premier game, as they were the best teams in their respective leagues this season.

The Brewers finished the MLB regular season with a winning record of 103-59, making them the only team to reach 100 wins alongside the Dodgers (100).

The Rays finished two short of that total (98) but would dominate the AL, as the next-best were the New York Yankees (93), whom they swept aside in the ALDS.

What’s perhaps more fitting is that many argue these are the two best-run teams in MLB, yet neither has won a World Series.

The Brewers' bullpen has been the best of this year's playoff dozen, while the Rays' rotation has been the best in the field. However, the same can be said of the Brewers’ starters and the Rays’ bullpen.

Betting Markets to Watch

Game 1 betting odds have the Brewers listed as the likely favourites, although both were the top seeds for their respective brackets.

Still, the odds will reflect the Brewers’ home form as a potential reason, as they went 55-26 in the regular season and haven’t dropped one at home in the playoffs. They’ve dropped just one game so far in the postseason.

The Brewers won two of the three home games this season, after losing the first. Having lost 3-2 on a ninth-inning run by the Rays, they won 6-2 and then 8-2.

Jake Bauers is an interesting value option to score a home run . He hit 26 homers in 144 games, including one against the Dodgers in the NLCS, and won series MVP. He only has one home run in the postseason, though, which is the concern.

Alternative value is in Drew Rasmussen in the strikeouts market as the projected starting pitcher for the Rays. His line has been set at 5.5, and the value appears to be in the ‘ Over ’.

He has cleared this line in all three postseason starts: 10 against the Yankees, then seven and six against Cleveland. His regular-season baseline was 174 strikeouts in 172 innings across 30 starts (5.8 per start).

His recent workload is encouraging, too, as he has pitched 21 innings across three playoff starts, suggesting he’s being allowed to pitch deep into games.

Our Prediction

Check the latest World Series Game 1 betting odds at Sportsbet.

Our prediction is for the Brewers to be likely winners.

A long shot is Brice Turang to hit a home run. He homered against Rasmussen in April and went 4-for-11 with a double, a homer and five walks against the Dodgers in the NLCS, which is encouraging.