The Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies take to the diamond tonight in the second game of their season-opening series in Major League Baseball. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Red Sox favored to pick up the victory on the road.
Boston blasted Philadelphia in the season opener, picking up an 8-0 victory. Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia both homered twice in that game, where the Red Sox finished the game with nine hits and earned seven walks. They did, however, still strike out nine times with Pablo Sandoval and David Ortiz fanning three times each.
Philly was a mess offensively, snagging only three hits and walking twice. They struck out nine times and saw only 118 pitches in a full nine innings, showcasing their poor plate discipline.
Rick Porcello was acquired by the Red Sox in the off season and he recently signed a massive extension with Boston. Tonight he'll get his first start for Beantown and current Phillies are hitting .293 against him in 75 plate appearances. Both Jeff Francoeur and Ben Revere have had the most success against Porcello in his career, going 14-for-39 (.359) in their careers, combined.
Starting the game tonight for the Phils will be Aaron Harang, who is making his debut for Philadelphia tonight. He's been a serviceable veteran during his time in the big leagues and is 2-2 with a 5.08 ERA in five career starts against the Red Sox in his career.
Both Ramirez and Big Papi have done big damage against Harang in their career, going a combined 15-of-39 (.385) with six home runs. Ramirez was certainly locked in during the opener, Ortiz struggled. The Red Sox would probably be just fine with getting both of them swinging the bats well tonight.
Tonight Boston will continue to swing the bats well, beating up on Harang, and taking advantage of a poor Philadelphia team. Porcello will look good, but not strike out a ton of Phillies.
Free Pick: Red Sox
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