Major league baseball on Friday night and we will see the LA Angels travel to Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox. Free pick to follow. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
Angels -108
Red Sox -102
Over/ Under: 8 -110
This is game 1 of a 3 game series between these American League foes. The LA Angels have been playing well of lat, but they did lose 8-4 vs a reeling Toronto team last night. The Halos have won 7 of their last 10 games, but are still 5.5 games behind Houston for the top spot in the AL West. The Red Sox are 19-22 on the year and in 4th place in the AL East. Offense has been a problem for them of late as they have scored more thab 2 runs in just 2 of their last 9 games. The Angels rank 29th in the league in scoring (3.68 rpg), while on the mound they are 9th in ERA (3.57). The Red Sox rank 23rd in scoring (3.83 rpg), while on the mound they are 27th in ERA (4.47).
Trends for this game include: The Angels are 8-3 in their last 11 vs. the AL East and 18-4 in Richards' last 22 starts vs. a team with a losing record, plus 16-5 the last 21 in the series. The Red Sox have gone 10-3 in their last 13 during game 1 of a series, but just 7-19 in their last 26 home games vs. a team with a winning road record and 1-5 in their last 6 home games vs. a right-handed starter.
Getting the ball for the Angels tonight will be Garrett Richards, who is 3-2 with a 2.29 ERA in 6 starts overall, while on the road he has gone 1-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 3 starts. Garret faced the Sox twice as a starter last year and had 2 no-decisions, while posting a 3.38 ERA in the two starts.
Getting the ball for the Red Sox tonight will be Rick Porcello, who is 4-2 with a 4.26 ERA in 8 starts for the year overall, while at home he has gone 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA in 4 starts. Rick has not had good success vs the Angels in his career as he is 4-4 with a 6.52 ERA in 11 starts vs them.
Pick: I will go with the Under in this game. The Boston offense is a complete mess right now and it won't get much better vs Garrett Richards, who has pitched well this year, posting a 2.29 ERA. The Angels offense hasn't been good at all this year and I don't expect that to change here vs Rick Porcello, who has been pitching very well of late. This one looks like a pitcher's duel for sure.
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