Sunday Night Baseball Pick: BOSTON Red Sox vs TAMPA BAY Rays
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Despite a smattering of injuries and their brutal division, the Boston Red Sox haven’t quite faded away in the American League East playoff race. This weekend, they get a golden opportunity to gain huge ground when they visit the team they’re chasing: the Tampa Bay Rays. Who will win when the divisional rivals clash Sunday night on ESPN?
Sunday, August 29, 8:05 p.m. ET
Boston Red Sox (73-55, 3rd place in AL East)
Tampa Bay Rays (78-49, 1st place in AL East
While the series opens with a battle of Cy Young contenders when Jon Lester battles David Price on Friday, Sunday will see both teams trot a talented but underachieving hurler to the mound.
John Lackey (12-7, 4.51)
James Shields (12-11, 4.76)
Run support is a beautiful thing. John Lackey’s 4.51 season ERA is a far cry from his 3.88 career mark but he’s tallied 12 wins this season anyway. Over his last two starts, he allowed 16 hits and seven runs over 15 innings and wound up with two victories.
For the most part, Lackey has the Rays figured out. He’s 11-3 over 15 career starts against them with a 3.54 ERA. The Rays rocked him for eight runs in 3.1 innings back in April but he beat Tampa in his next two tries this season, allowing just three runs in 14.1 innings.
Lackey may need some extra time in the film room to solve Carl Crawford, however. The speedy Ray has faced Lackey 42 times in his career and tallied 19 hits for a .452 lifetime average. 
James Shields looked like a borderline ace a couple years ago but has slipped significantly since then. Homers continuously plague him; Shields has allowed an American League-high 29 dingers already this season and he even served up six gopher balls in one start against Toronto on August 7.
Even though the Red Sox are hampered by injuries, they’ll have the right guy in the lineup for Shields. David Ortiz bats .400 off him with three homers and 11 RBI over 30 career at-bats.
Clearly, this matchup looks like a slugfest on paper. On one hand, Shields is a homer dispenser. On the other, the BoSox are missing plenty of regulars and Jonathan Papelbon has been shaky in closing duty.
It’s not an easy decision but I trust Lackey slightly more than I trust Shields right now. Pick Boston to pull off the minor road upset.
Gambling Trends:
Boston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Boston is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Boston
Tampa Bay is 9-4 SU in its last 13 games
Sunday Night Baseball FREE PICK for Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays
Pick: Boston Red Sox
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Prediction (Shea Matthews’ record: 9-10)
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