The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will both be looking to extend their winning ways when they square off in the opener of a four-game set against their AL East rivals on Friday night. With both AL Pennant hopefuls looking to send a message to the other, let’s find out which team is offering the best MLB betting value in this matchup.
Rays vs Red Sox MLB Odds, Predictions & Expert Pick
- When: Friday, June 2, 2019 at 7:10 PM ET
- Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
- TV: NESN
- Radio: Tampa Bay / Boston
- Live Stream: MLB.tv
- MLB Odds: TBA
Starting Pitchers
- Rays RH Yonny Chirinos (6-2, 3.25 ERA)
- Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (4-5, 4.76)
Why Bet On Tampa Bay?
The Rays have won two straight after dropping their previous four games. Tampa Bay comes into this contest off a convincing 6-1 win over Detroit on Thursday night as catcher Travis d’Arnaud smacked his first two home runs of the season and five pitchers limited the Tigers to a modest eight hits. The Rays have put six runs or more on the board in three of their last four games and their win over the Tigers helped them to improve to a stellar 20-9 on the road.
For this contest, the Rays will hand the ball to right-hander Yonny Chirinos after he allowed four runs and a season-high nine hits in 5.1 innings of a 6-2 loss against Minnesota in his last start. The 25-year-old went 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA I four appearances against the BoSox a year ago, including two starts.
Team Statistics
Offense:
- Runs: 4.72
- Hits: 9.03
- Walks: 3.60
- Strike Outs: 9.43
Defense:
- Runs: 3.32
- Hits: 7.35
- Walks: 2.93
- Strike Outs: 9.65
Why Bet On Boston?
The Red Sox will look to equal their season-best of five straight wins on Friday night. Boston got past Kansas City 7-5 on Thursday night as reigning AL MVP Mookie Betts homered and the incendiary Rafael Devers drove in two runs. Devers, the AL Player of the Month for May, has eight RBIs during Boston’s four-game winning streak and a stellar 18 over his last 15 games. Boston has scored seven runs or more in each of their last four games and six times in their last 10 games overall.
For this contest, Boston will turn to veteran right-hander Rick Porcello. The 30-year-old hurler was touched up for five runs and nine hits in 4.2 innings of a 5-3 loss at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
Team Statistics
Offense:
- Runs: 5.45
- Hits: 9.10
- Walks: 4.03
- Strike Outs: 8.21
Defense:
- Runs: 4.71
- Hits: 8.10
- Walks: 3.19
- Strike Outs: 9.77
Rays vs Red Sox MLB Betting Trends
- Rays are 10-5 SU in the last 15 games
- The total went UNDER in 12 of the Rays’ last 15 games on the road
- Red Sox are 4-1 SU in the last 5 games
- The total went OVER in 6 of the Red Sox last 9 games
Expert Analysis and Prediction for Rays vs Red Sox
While I’ve been super impressed with Tampa Bay early on this season and I believe the Rays are going to maintain their legitimacy for potentially the entire 2019 campaign, I like the Boston Red Sox to get it done at home in this matchup. Prior to his last start, Rick Porcello had tossed seven consecutive outings of at least six innings and I’ve got to believe he’s due for a better performance after his last start.
Not only that, but Boston’s bats are heating up in a big, big way right now and I think the BoSox are going to smack Yonny Chirinos around to take an early lead they won’t relinquish. While Tampa bay has gone 6-1 in their last seven games following a win and 4-1 in their last five road games, Boston has gone 4-1 in Rick Porcello’s last 5 home starts, 7-2 in Porcello,s last 9 starts overall and 20-8 in Porcello’s last 28 starts with 5 days of rest. With the BoSox also going 5-2 in Porcello’s last seven starts against Tampa Bay, I like Boston to get the hard-fought win at home.
MLB Betting Pick: Boston 6 Tampa Bay 4
