MLB Sharp Report: Pros Moving Rays-Indians Line Thursday Night

Wiseguys swept the board for the second consecutive day yesterday, going a perfect 3-0 with their Wednesday plays. When new bettors are hot, they get overconfident and want to bet more on each game. But sharps never fall into the double-down trap. Hot, cold, or treading water, wiseguys stick to flat betting. Stay the course and think long term, always.

After analyzing Thursday’s short 10-game schedule using the betting tools available at Sports Insights and The Action Network, I’ve identified sharp action coming down on one MLB game.

Betting Terms to Know

Steam Move: Sudden, drastic and uniform line movement across the market caused by an overload of sharp action from respected players.

Reverse Line Movement (RLM): When the betting line moves in the opposite direction of the betting percentages. It’s a top smart money indicator.

Line Freeze: When one side is getting heavy betting, but the line won’t budge, indicating sharp liability on the other side.

Juice: The tax or commission that bettors must pay sportsbooks in order for them to accept your wager. A -115 juice means a bettor would have to wager $115 to win $100.

• Sharp Betting 101: How to Track Professional Betting Action
• How to Bet on Baseball: 15 Simple, Profitable Tips

Tampa Bay Rays @ Cleveland Indians

6:10 p.m. ET

Sharp angle: Rays (moved from -102 to -129)

This line has been all over the place. Without the Sports Insights live odds and line history feature — which details every single line move for every game — you may not have noticed sharp action taking place.

Yesterday afternoon, the Rays (28-18) opened as -145 road favorites, with the Indians (25-23) listed as +125 dogs. This line crept all the way up to Tampa -180 late last night. But then Tampa made a pitching change. The starting pitcher was listed as "Undecided" and the game went off the board for several hours.

Late this morning, the Rays announced that lefty Ryan Yarbrough would get the start. Once the change was official, the game re-opened with the Rays listed as -102 dogs and the Tribe a -118 home favorite.

As soon as the line re-opened sharps began crushing the Rays.

Using our Action Network betting trends, we've noticed 54% of bets backing Tampa, indicating a slight public lean, but those bets have also accounted for a whopping 76% of dollars, signaling clear smart money from big pro players.

We've also seen a trio of Bet Signals pummel Tampa Bay, without a single conflicting move (or buyback) on the Indians. This heavy influx of respected money has pushed Tampa from -102 to -129, while dropping Cleveland from -118 to +117.