From Fenway Park in Boston, we have the Athletics and Red Sox facing off in an AL matchup. This one gets started at 7:10 PM ET, and the Athletics are the heavy underdog on the money line (+180). The Red Sox are 3rd in the AL East, with an overall record of 50-41, and they are favored at -215 tonight.
Thursday’s forecast in Boston calls for cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. The over/under line is currently at 10 runs, and NESN will be televising this one. Luis Medina is starting for the Athletics, and he is facing off against Tanner Houck for the Red Sox.
Struggling Athletics Face High-Scoring Red Sox: Can Medina Deliver?
The Athletics are 5th in the AL West and trail the Mariners by 16 games. Overall, they are 35-59 and have gone 9-17 against other teams in their division. They are 13-34 on the road compared to 22-25 at home. As the underdog, the Athletics are 28-57 this year, but they are 7-2 as the favorite. Oakland’s over/under line for today’s game against the Red Sox is set at 10 runs, which is higher than their average of 8.6 runs per game. They have gone over the total in 41 of their 92 games this year.
Luis Medina is 2-3 with a 4.37 ERA this year and will be facing a Red Sox lineup that is 5th in scoring. Medina has a .257 opponents batting average this year and has a 5.18 ERA on the road compared to 4.99 at home. The Athletics are 47-47 against the run line this year and have a -0.9 run margin. Offensively, they are 27th in scoring and are hitting .225 as a team. Brent Rooker is hitting .282 with 18 homers, and Lawrence Butler is hitting .345 over his last 9 games.
Red Sox Chase AL East Lead with Road Dominance and Hot Bats
The Red Sox are 50-41 overall and are 6.5 games behind the Orioles for the AL East lead. They are 3rd in the division and have gone 13-11 in divisional games. Boston is 29-17 on the road this season and have won two straight series. Their overall series record is 14-10-5, and they have won four straight series on the road. The Red Sox are 21-24 at home this season.
Tanner Houck will be on the mound for Boston today, and he comes in with a record of 7-6 and an ERA of 2.68. He has made 18 starts and has 13 quality starts. The Red Sox offense is 6th in batting average and 6th in both OBP and SLG. Their .322 OBP is 6th in the league, and they have the best BABIP in the league. Rafael Devers has been hot of late, hitting .333 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI over his last 7 games. The Red Sox offense is averaging 4.7 runs per game, which is 11th in the league.
Betting Preview: Take the Under in Athletics vs. Red Sox Showdown
Our pick for this Athletics vs. Red Sox matchup is to actually take the under, with the line sitting at 10 runs. We have the Red Sox winning this one 5-4, giving us a little wiggle room on the line, but we see this being a good spot to take the under.
Looking at the starters, Tanner Houck is projected to finish with six strikeouts, which is the seventh-best among starters today. As for Luis Medina, he is projected to finish with five K’s, which has him right in the middle of the pack.
Another reason we like the under is that the Red Sox are projected to finish with just one more run than the Athletics, and with the Red Sox being the favorite, we don’t see a ton of value in taking them on the money line.
