The Boston Red Sox welcome in the Texas Rangers tonight in Major League Baseball action. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have the Red Sox favored at home to pick up the victory.
Boston and Texas take to the field tonight with both squads sitting under the .500 mark for the season. Texas, though, has been OK on the road with their 10-10 overall road record, which is acceptable. They have been pretty bad overall however, sitting seven games under the .500 mark with a team that needs improvement in the near future.
The Red Sox sit in third place, a 19-20 team that has been outscored by 32 runs — which is the worst mark in the American League. Only the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies from the National League have a worse run differential than Boston.
Tonight Boston sends Joe Kelly to the mound. He's 1-2 for the year with an ERA of 5.58 in seven starts. Kelly hasn't won since his opening appearance for the season, an April 11 victory over the New York Yankees that saw him toss seven innings and allow just a single hit. Since then the Red Sox are 3-3 in his starts. Current Rangers own a .353 average against him in a minimal amount of just 17 at bats.
Youngster Phil Klein gets the ball tonight for the Rangers. He's 0-1 on the year and has a bloated ERA of 7.71. That number is a bit deceiving, however, as Klein comes out of the bullpen for the Rangers. He's logged only 4 2/3 innings for the year and has surrendered four earns runs on five hits. He hasn't pitched in the bigs since April 14, either.
While Boston has been inconsistent this year, it would be tough to back a reliever, making an appearance after more than a month, on the road here. Boston should take an aggressive approach at the plate and pick up a home win here tonight.
Free Pick: Boston
NFL Free Pick: Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
According to professional sports bettor Steve Fezzik, the early bird can catch a profitable worm if they put money down on Green Bay's opening week showing against the Chicago Bears. With the line currently at -4.5 at most Vegas sports books, Fezzik predicts it will move to -6.5 come game day, as no one is going to be betting on the Jay Cutler-helmed Bears, so the money will pour in on Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. With that being the case, time strike early while the iron is hot.
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