Thursday night baseball and we will see the Boston Red Sox take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen Bank Stadium in Philadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally. Current Betting Odds, according to Sportsbook.ag, have Boston listed as the favorite.
Current Odds
Boston -123
Philadelphia +113
Over/ Under: 9 -110
Analysis: Boston has had to face former closer Jonathan Papelbon in each of the last two games and nearly broke through Wednesday, pushing across a run in the ninth before Papelbon got Daniel Nava to ground to first with the go-ahead run on second. Daniel Nava homered and Dustin Pedroia also drove in a run. Pedroia confirmed before the game a report that he has been playing with a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, which he hurt on Opening Day. It hasn't had an impact on the second baseman as he is hitting .332 this season and has not committed an error. Red Sox DH David Ortiz appeared as a pinch hitter in the ninth Wednesday and could get the start at first base today. Jon Lester was slated to take the hill for the Red Sox tonight, but with ace Clay Buchholz having his scheduled outing on Friday pushed back to Sunday at the earliest, Lester will take his place in the opener of a weekend set versus the New York Yankees. Instead, left-hander Franklin Morales will make his season debut for the Red Sox with a spot start. Morales began the season on the disabled list due to a lower-back strain before getting activated on Tuesday. He went 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in five rehab outings for three separate minor-league affiliates. The 27-year-old was 3-4 with a save and 3.77 ERA in 37 games with the Red Sox last year, including nine starts. Morales is 1-0 lifetime versus the Phillies with a 0.96 ERA in five meetings with only one start.
f the Boston Red Sox are hoping to get out of Philadelphia with a split of the two-game interleague series, they are going to need to find a way to slow Domonic Brown. Brown has long been a top prospect for the Phillies, but is just this season receiving regular playing time. The 25-year-old has five home runs over his last five games and leads the Phillies with 13 homers and 32 RBI. The reigning NL Player of the Week became the first Phillie to hit 10 home runs in one month since Ryan Howard had 11 in August of 2009. Howard and Erik Kratz also went deep for the Phillies , who have won 10 of their last 16, last night and at 26-27 will try to reach the even mark for the first time since they were 6-6 on April 14. Jonathan Pettibone, who made his major-league debut April 22, has yet to allow more than three runs in seven starts. The 22-year-old California native scattered three runs and a career-high nine hits over six innings at Washington on Saturday. Pettibone has only completed seven innings once in his seven turns, but went 6 2/3 frames while allowing two runs and four hits in his lone outing against an American League club, versus the Cleveland Indians on May 14.
Pick: Franklin Morales gets the ball for the Sox tonight for his first start of the year and while he has gone 8-7 in 24 career starts he does have a 4.34 ERA over that stretch. He will be taking on a Philly team that may be playing with some confidence after hitting 4 HR's last night. The Boston offense has been good all year and after being held to just 3 run last night I look for them to bounce back strong tonight. Boston averages 5.16 rpg on the road, while the Phillies have put up a solid 4 rpg at home. Boston should also have Ortiz in the lineup tonight, which will give them extra pop, while the hottest in baseball (Domonic Brown) resides on the side of the Phils. Both pens are struggling as Philly has a 4.78 pen ERA in their last 10 games, while the Sox have a 4.85 pen ERA in their last 10. Early and late scoring should get us at least 10 runs in this one.
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