Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview

It will be an AL East heavyweight bout Thursday evening as the Boston Red Sox (76-59) square off with the Tampa Bay Rays (84-49). The Rays will host this one at Tropicana Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm ET.

This is the finale of a four-game series between the two teams. After the Rays took the first two games, Boston was able to win Wednesday’s game 3-2.

In the win, Chris Sale went six innings, allowing only two runs. Christian Vazquez homered in the victory.
In the loss, Wander Franco accounted for all of the scoring as he hit a two-run home run in the third inning off of Sale.

The Rays are the favorites Thursday playing at home. They are -174 to win while the Red Sox moneyline sits at +146. The runline features Boston +1.5 (-140), and the over/under for total runs sits at 8.

Pitching Matchup

It will be the battle of a couple of southpaws in the finale.

For Boston, they will send Eduardo Rodriguez (10-7, 5.12 ERA) to the mound. He picked up the win in his last start against Cleveland after going seven innings of three-run ball. He allowed eight hits and struck out two.

The Rays will turn to Shane McClanahan to try to secure the series win. On the season, he is 9-4 with a 3.59 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and has 117 strikeouts in 110.1 innings. In his last seven starts, he is 6-1 with a 2.90 ERA.

By The Number

Offensively, the Tampa Bay Rays are the best team in the majors. They rank first in scoring averaging 5.38 runs per game. The Boston Red Sox rank fourth, averaging 5.04 runs (4.36 on the road).

It is again the Rays who hold the advantage on defense. They rank 10th in scoring defense allowing opponents an average of 4.08 runs per game (3.23 at home). The Red Sox rank 17th allowing 4.63 runs per game.

Red Sox Fight To Hold Onto Postseason Spot

If the season were to end today, the AL East would have three teams in the postseason. The Rays would win the division with the two Wild Card spots going to the New York Yankees and the Red Sox.

Holding the second Wild Card spot, the Red Sox are trying to fend off the Oakland A’s for the postseason berth. Currently two games ahead of Oakland, the Red Sox will look for a series split with Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Leading the way for Boston’s offense is third baseman Rafael Devers. He is hitting .276/.349/.547 with 32 home runs, 97 runs batted in, and 83 runs scored.

Unfortunately, after testing positive for COVID-19, the Red Sox are without shortstop Xander Bogaerts. This season, he is hitting .298/.366/.501 with 20 home runs and 70 runs batted in.

Rays Try To Add Distance In The Division

At 84-49, the Rays hold a comfortable seven-game lead over the second-place Yankees in the AL East. Still, with one of the best divisions in baseball, the Rays would love to add to their division lead.

Luckily, Tampa Bay has been one of the hottest teams in the MLB as of late. In fact, prior to Wednesday’s loss, they had won nine in a row.

Keep an eye on Brandon Lowe in Thursday’s matchup. In his career against Eduardo Rodriguez, he is hitting .364 with three home runs and four runs batted in. Nelson Cruz and Wander Franco have also taken the lefty deep.

Take The Rays At Home

Despite the loss on Thursday, there is still a lot to like about the Rays in this one. They have been dominant at home (43-24), dominant as of late (9-1 in their last 10), and they have the more consistent pitcher getting the start in Shane McClanahan.

Obviously, anything can happen when two AL East powerhouses go to battle, but the smart bet is to take the Rays to secure the series win.