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It’s a matchup of AL division leaders on Tuesday from Fenway Park as the Oakland A’s make their only visit of the season to Boston to open a series. Looks to be a solid pitching matchup between Oakland’s Chris Bassitt and Boston’s Nathan Eovaldi.

How to Bet A’s at Red Sox MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 7:10 PM ET
Where: Fenway Park
Probable pitchers (away/home): Chris Bassitt/Nathan Eovaldi
TV: MLB Extra Innings

Why Bet on Oakland? | Betting Odds for MLB

The A’s are 8-4 (.667) on the road, which is the second best road record in the American League. They have compiled a 4.65 ERA (106 er in 205.0 ip) in Oakland compared to 3.29 (38 er in 104.0 ip) on the road. Oakland has the fourth highest home ERA in the AL and the second lowest road ERA.

Oakland was off Monday after taking two of three at home over the weekend vs. Tampa Bay. Matt Chapman went 3-for-4 with a run scored on Sunday against the Rays. Chapman singled in the fourth inning off of Shane McClanahan and came around to score on a base hit by Stephen Piscotty. The 28-year-old third baseman added two more hits to bring his average up to .213 on the year. He was 0-for-8 over his last two games after a nine-game hitting streak.

Outfielder Ramón Laureano was not in the Athletics’ starting lineup Sunday due to a right thumb injury. Athletics manager Bob Melvin said that it’s nothing serious and Laureano could have played through the injury, but he wants to give him a day off to rest and recover. He should be in there Tuesday.

Reliever Burch Smith (groin), reinstated from the injured list Saturday, fired two perfect innings during which he recorded two strikeouts vs. the Rays on Sunday. He now sports a 1.80 ERA and 0.80 WHIP through five innings (three appearances).

It’s Chris Bassitt (2-2, 3.70) on the mound here. Bassitt is 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA and .221 opponents batting average over his last five starts after going 0-2 with a 5.56 ERA and .289 opponents average over his first two starts. He has allowed exactly two runs in each of his last five starts and is the first pitcher in Oakland history to allow exactly two runs in five consecutive games (starter or reliever).

Bassitt has struck out seven or more batters in each of his last four starts and has 32 strikeouts in 25.0 innings over that span (11.52 per nine innings). He now has 43 strikeouts for the season, which is tied for seventh in the American League. Bassitt’s slider has become one of the more dominant pitches in baseball and is leading to an uptick in strikeouts.

Bassitt has never faced the Red Sox in his career and Boston is one of two AL teams he has never faced (Yankees)

Why Bet on Boston? | Betting Odds for MLB

The Red Sox gained sole possession of first place in the AL East on 4/10 and have held it ever since. Their largest lead of the season is 3.5 games. Only 18 of the Red Sox’ first 57 games are against AL East teams. They will not play the Yankees until June 4. The Red Sox are the only team with 4 qualified players with an OPS of at least .850 (10 teams have none): J.D. Martinez (1.084), Xander Bogaerts (1.003), Rafael Devers (.915), and Alex Verdugo (.856).

Boston’s Matt Barnes has been one of the best relievers in the American League this season, posting a 2.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP and 30/3 K/BB ratio over 18 innings across 17 appearances. He has eight saves.

The Sox remain without second baseman/outfielder Enrique Hernandez as he’s on the injured list with a right hamstring strain. Hernandez suffered the injury during the first inning of Thursday’s game against the Tigers. The 29-year-old had been hitting .239/.298/.425 with four homers, 10 RBI and a 28/8 K/BB ratio over 124 plate appearances prior to the injury.

It’s hard-throwing right-hander Nathan Eovaldi here. He is coming off his worst start of the season, when he gave up seven hits and six runs over 4 1/3 innings against the Tigers. Eovaldi did not let the Tigers slug the ball against him and he allowed just a lone double as the Tigers’ only extra-base hit. Instead, the Tigers dinked and dunked Eovaldi for that double along with six singles and a walk.

It was the first time this year Eovaldi was unable to pitch at least five innings. His teammates made up for it offensively, racking up 12 runs en route to the win. In seven career starts against Oakland, Eovaldi is 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA.

Red Sox starters rank 3rd in the majors in FIP (3.20). The Red Sox and Dodgers are the only teams with 5 starters with a FIP of 4.00 or lower (min. 5 starts).