Tonight the Boston Red Sox take on the Tampa Bay Rays in an American League East battle. The game is scheduled for a 7:10 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on MLB Network. Currently the odds for the game have the Rays favored in this one.
Tampa Bay and Boston are both on the outside looking in for the AL East title, but Tampa Bay has drawn a lot of traction lately. These teams seem to be heading in opposite directions right now. The Rays have won eight of their last 10 games overall and are surging right now — so they probably will hang on to tonight's starter David Price.
Price has been pretty steady this season, but has a 10-7 record. Coincidentally, he's been very good on the road this season, going 6-2 in 10 starts. At home, he's only 4-5 but has a very stable 3.38 ERA for the year.
Tampa has won 18 of 23 overall and Price has won all five starts during that time span, surrendering a very-impressive 0.90 ERA. Price has had good and bad starts against the Red Sox in his career.
Boston will give the ball to Jon Lester, who also is 10-7 on the year and has a 2.50 ERA. He's been on fire as well as Boston has picked up a victory in each of his last seven starts overall. His record during that time is 4-0 with a 0.85 ERA.
Both offenses have been good and bad this year, inconsistently causing problems for both teams. It's hard to go against the Rays right now because of how hot they are, but Lester is also in a great groove right now for Boston.
Tonight, we're going to back the Rays. They have their best option on the mound and they are absolutely on fire right now.
Free Pick: Tampa Bay 4, Boston 2
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