MLB Betting – Rays vs Red Sox Preview & Pick
The clock is ticking for The Tampa Bay Rays as they try to catch the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the American League East.
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MLB Betting – Rays vs Red Sox Preview & Pick
Date: Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Venue: Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Broadcast: SUN, NESN
Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox Betting Lines from Bodog.com
Money Line: Red Sox -106
Over/Under: 9
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Tampa Bay Rays (64-55 through August 15)
David Price (10-10, 3.76)
Last week’s five-game winning streak helped but Tampa still has a long way to go. At least the Rays’ three-game set with Boston this week gives them a golden opportunity.
The Rays’ pitching has been mostly hot of late, as they allowed one or fewer runs in four of their five victories last week. It was nice to see David Price get back on track and beat the Yankees with eight innings of one-run ball last week. The Rays’ ace has had a strange season. He’s curbed his walk rate significantly and lowered his WHIP but his ERA has jumped a full run, largely because he’s giving up more homers than normal.
If Price wants run support, maybe he should look to rookie Desmond Jennings. Hyped as the reason Tampa Bay could let Carl Crawford go, Jennings has been outstanding since getting called up, batting .338 with four homers, 13 RBI, eight steals and a 1.049 OPS in 21 games.
Boston Red Sox
John Lackey (11-8, 6.13)
The Red Sox are still a great bet for a playoff berth, whether it’s the AL East crown or the Wild Card, but they must be happy to be back at home. They finished a six-game road trip over the weekend by losing three of four. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
The Red Sox continue to mash the baseball; Adrian Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz are all having MVP-caliber seasons and they also have “underachievers” like Kevin Youkilis and Carl Crawford. But their pitching has been uneven.
Will John Lackey ever be an effective big-league starter again? Great run support gives him 11 wins but the putrid ERA shows that he’s been lucky. He’s been slightly better since the All-Star break, posting a 4.62 ERA, and that’s been enough for him to go 5-0 over that stretch.
MLB Trends
TB are 6-2 in their last 8 overall.
TB are 11-4 in Prices last 15 starts on grass.
TB are 12-5 in Prices last 17 road starts.
Under is 7-1 in BOS last 8 Wed. games.
BOS are 16-6 in their last 22 home games.
BOS are 57-27 in their last 84 overall.
Under is 7-2 in the last 9 meetings.
Over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Boston.
MLB Free pick:
Boston’s bats tend to rally when Lackey pitches. It’s almost like a hockey team playing great defense in front of a bad goalie. But they may be due to take one on the chin against Price.
Though he hasn’t been himself this season, he’s pitched well against tough, powerful teams, allowing two or fewer runs in recent starts against Milwaukee, Cincinnati and the Yankees.
He also beat Boston the last time he faced them. Since most of Boston’s most dangerous bats hit from the left side of the plate, the lefty Price can keep them in check.
Rays vs Red Sox prediction: Rays 5, Red Sox 4
