Rays Favourites to Beat Phillies in World Series Betting

The Tamba Bay Rays are favourites to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series betting odds, which begins on Wednesday 22nd October. The 2008 MLB season has been nothing short of a fairy tale for The Rays, who only began playing in the MLB ten years ago in 1998. This is the team's first ever appearance in the post season play offs, let alone the World Series, and Joe Maddon's men are now favourites to overcome the Phillies with British bookmaker, Ladbrokes offering the best odds of 8/11 about the Rays winning the season finale, a far cry from the odds of 200/1 that were being quoted at the start of the season, after ranking bottom of the entire league in 2007.

Best Odds to win the World Series
Tampa Bay Rays 8/11 at Ladbrokes.com - Free £25 Bet
Philadelphia Phillies 27/20 with Bet 365 - £100 of Free Bets.

World Series Correct Score Betting
Tampa Bay 4-2 - 4/1
Tampa Bay 4-3 -4/1
Tampa Bay 4-1 - 9/2
Philadelphia 4-3 - 5/1
Philadelphia 4-2 - 5/1
Philadelphia 4-1 - 7/1
Tampa Bay 4-0 - 9/1
Philadelphia 4-0 14/1
Ladbrokes Odds

The Rays have looked good all season, winning a total of 97 games to a 60% win rate. They have been particularly impressive in the Post Season, beating the Chicago White Sox 3-1 in the American League Division Series before showing plenty of character to overcome World Series favourites, the Boston Red Sox, in the American League Championship Series. The Rays had surged to a 3-1 lead in the series before the Red Sox levelled the series taking it to game 7, which saw Tampa Bay once again answer their critics to win the game 3-1 and book their place in the World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies started the season as one of the more fancied sides to win the National League and a consistent run of form saw them clinch the National League East Title before going on to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers in the Division Series and an impressive victory over the LA Angels in five games to win the National League Pennant. It is the first time since 1993 that the Phillies will have appeared in the World Series, when they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays and have only ever one the title once before back in 1980. Bet365 are offering the best odds (27/20)on the Phillies winning the title for the first time in 28 years.

While it is the Rays who shade the betting for the World Series, the two teams are very evenly matched and either could win. Many pundits believe that the Rays are destined to win given their amazing transformation from worst team in the league to one of the best within 12 months but the Phillies should not be written off and this series could well go the full distance.

Previous Sports Betting Articles