Wednesday night baseball and we will see the Detroit Tigers take on the Boston Red Sox in game 3 of their 3 game series from Fenway Park. The game is scheduled for a 7:05 (ET) pm start time and it will be televised live on ESPN. Currently the odds have Boston favored at -105, while Detroit is dogs of -101. The total for the game sits at 10.5 runs.
Free Analysis: Tuesday’s contest was called in the sixth inning due to heavy rain and the timing wasn’t good for Detroit. The Tigers trailed 4-1 and had the bases loaded when play was stopped. The shortened contest also ended Detroit ace Justin Verlander’s streak of pitching at least six innings in a game at 63. The rain intensified and the game was washed out, expediting Detroit's ninth loss in its last 10 games at Fenway. The Tigers, who slipped 2 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Chicago, are 8-30 in Boston since 2003. Detroit (54-50) had won 13 of 15 coming into this nine-game trip but has dropped six of the first eight after Tuesday's loss. Porcello lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in his last outing after winning his previous three decisions. He gave up five runs and six hits in six innings against the Blue Jays. Porcello hasn’t allowed a homer in eight straight starts and 11 of his last 12. The right-hander hasn't faced the Red Sox this year, and he may wish he were missing them again. He's 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA in three starts versus Boston, failing to make it through five innings each time. The Red Sox have won four straight games overall and trying to display they can still be a factor in the American League wild-card chase. Aaron Cook has lost his last three decisions. He was hit hard in his last start when he allowed six runs and seven hits in four innings against the New York Yankees. He has allowed 11 runs, including four homers, over 10 1-3 innings while dropping his last two starts. A shockingly low strikeout rate may finally be catching up to the right-hander. Although he's never been a strikeout pitcher, instead relying heavily on groundball outs, Cook has needed his fielders for nearly every out in 2012. He has four strikeouts in 40 innings, a rate of 0.90 per nine innings, compared to Derek Lowe, who ranks last in the majors among 101 qualifying pitchers with 3.10 strikeouts per nine. Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera batted .344 with nine homers and 23 RBIs in July, his best monthly totals in all three categories this season, while Boston 3B Will Middlebrooks is batting .414 with two homers during an eight-game hitting streak. Jacoby Ellsbury is 5 for 5 with a homer against Porcello, who at least won't have to worry about David Ortiz. The designated hitter is eligible to return from the disabled list Wednesday, but he told the Red Sox's official website that his strained right Achilles isn't quite ready.
Free Pick: Im gonna look for a slugfest here and Take the Over. I know that Porcello hasn't given up a HR in a long time, but I see 1 or two leaving the park off him today. Rick has struggled of late with a 5.03 ERA in his last 3 starts, while on the road he has a 4.42 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. In 3 career starts vs the Sox he has a 10.80 ERA, allowing 10 ER's on 15 hits, including 3 HR's in just 8.1 innings of work. Aaron Cook comes in with a 4.67 ERA in his last 3 starts and a 4.71 ERA at home. The Tigers do score just 4.3 rpg on the road, but this offense has plenty of pop and they are desperate after losing the first 2 of the series, so I look for them to put up some runs today. The Sox average 5.5 rpg at home and after showing they could hit ver;lander last night they are playing with some confidence right now. Look for this one to squeak over the total with about 12 runs scored.
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