Boston Red Sox at Washington Nationals Betting Preview
The Boston Red Sox are at the Washington Nationals on Thursday for the final game of a three-game series.
The Red Sox won the first game on the road in Washington. Washington came away with the win on Wednesday to split the first two games of the series. The win for Washington pushed them to 54-67 on the season and 26-35 at home.
For the Red Sox, the loss dropped them to 65-57 on the season. Boston has gone 28-29 on the road. The Red Sox are in fourth place in the American League East.
The Boston Red Sox are favorites in this game. The Red Sox come into the game listed at -192 over the Nationals. The Nationals are +160. The total for this game is at 9.5.
Thursday Pitching Matchup
Chris Sale will get the start for the Boston Red Sox. The veteran lefthander has made just three starts since June. This is his second since returning from injury. His first one went 4.2 innings,
with two runs, but struck out 7. This will be his 13th start of the 2023 season.
For the Washington Nationals, they will use a veteran lefthander as well. 34-year-old Patrick Corbin gets the start. Corbin is 7-11 on the season with a 4.85 earned run average. Corbin has struck out 91 batters over 137 innings. In his last start at Philadelphia, he went five innings and allowed just one hit but walked seven batters.
Nationals Use Power on Wednesday
Michael Chavis and Stone Garrett both hit solo home runs on Wednesday to power the win. In fact, Garrett hit two in the game. Keibert Ruiz hit one late in the game to make it four on the night for Washington.
The Nationals have actually hit fairly well this season, with their .259 batting average. That ranks sixth in Major League Baseball. Getting those runners in has been an issue for Washington, as they are 19th in runs scored with 523 on the season.
Lane Thomas continues to provide the offensive spark for Washington, with a .282 batting average, 20 home runs, and 68 runs batted in on the season.
McKenzie Gore was strong in the win for Washington. He went 6.1 innings and allowed just one hit, and walked two batters while striking out seven. Gore moved to 7-9 on the season.
Red Sox Still Trying the Surge
The Boston Red Sox are still trying to surge into the postseason, but losses certainly hurt their chances one by one. The Red Sox started Wednesday three games back of the final wildcard spot in the American League.
Boston will play a three-game series at the New York Yankees after this and then four at the Houston Astros, so this is a tough test for the Red Sox. After that, they have the Dodgers and Astros for six to wrap up the month of August.
Boston is led by Masataka Yoshida and his .300 batting average. Rafael Devers is providing the power for Boston with 26 home runs, and 79 runs batted in. Justin Turner and Triston Casas are the next two to reach 20, as they both have 19 on the season.
Boston Wins Series with Thursday Win
Chris Sale is back. While the lefthander has been out for much of the season, look for him to come back and throw well in this game.
Sale keeps the Nationals off balance for a while, and the bullpen does the rest of the job. We are going to take the Boston Red Sox in this game and also take the under.
Bet the Red Sox -1.5 (+110) and UNDER 9.5.
