Thursday night baseball and we will see the Atlanta Braves take on the Boston Red Sox in game 2 of their 2 game series from Fenway Park in Boston. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on MLB Network.
Current Odds
Atlanta -101
Boston -109
Over/ Under: 8.5 -110
Stat Packs: The Atlanta Braves come in at 28-24 on the year and currently lead the NL East by a half a game over the surprising Marlins. The Braves are just 10-12 on the road this year and have gone 7-19 in their last 26 games vs Boston. Atlanta brings one of the weaker offenses into this game as they rank 29th in scoring (3.37 rpg) and 26th in hitting (.237). They do have some power as they rank 12th in homers with 51. Pitching is not an issue for the Braves, as they come in ranked 2nd in ERA (2.96) 4th in WHIP (1.19) and 1st in quality starts (37). Taking the hill for the Braves will be left-hander Mike Minor, who is 2-3 with a 3.90 ERA on the year. He has pitched better of late, posting a 2-1 mark and a 2.29 ERA in his last 3 starts and is 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA in 1 road start this year. He has faced Boston once in his career (2012) and allowed 4 ERs in just 4.2 innings of work, as the Braves lost that game 9-4.
The Boston Red Sox come in having won 2 in a row after losing their previous 10 games. The Red Sox are still just 23-29 on the year and in 4th place in the AL East, 8 games behind division leading Toronto. The Boston offense comes in ranked 15th in scoring (4.10 rpg), 22nd in hitting (.244) and 22nd in homers (40). Pitching has been an issue for this team as well, as they come in ranked 19th in ERA (3.91) and 25th in WHIP (1.39). Jake Peavy takes the hill for the Sox and comes in with a 1-2 mark and a 4.65 ERA in 10 starts this year, while in his last 3 starts he is 0-1 with an 8.82 ERA and at home he is 0-2 with a 4.42 ERA. Jake is 3-4 with a 3.68 ERA in 8 career starts vs the Braves.
Pick: Gonna look to the Under in this one. the Boston offense has not been that good this year and facing Mike Minor who has been hot of late will not help. The Atlanta offense has struggled overall this year as well and come in having scored just 3.09 rpg on the road and even worse is the fact that they have averaged just 2.8 rp/9 off of righties away from home. Peavy has a 4.42 ERA at home, but still his home starts have averaged just 7.2 rpg. That is because the Sox give him just 3.17 rpg worth of support in his home starts and behind him is a pen with a solid 3.09 ERA at home. The Sox hit lefties at just .236 and score just 3.82 rp/9 off of them at home, so don't expect a bunch of runs from them here. The Under is 9-3 in Boston's last 12 home games and I expect that trend to continue here.
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