The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays battle it out in Florida for a three-game set beginning Monday night.
Belmont.ag has Tampa Bay as -135 favorites with a total of nine runs. First pitch is 7:10 pm ET on ESPN2’s Monday Night Baseball.
The pitching matchup is Wade Davis (4-3, 3.35 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz (5-3, 3.26 ERA). This is a battle of two of the best young pitchers in the AL with Davis 24 and Buchholz 25.
Boston (24-21) trails Tampa Bay (32-12) by 8.5 games in the AL East. The Sox have taken the last two series against Minnesota and Philadelphia. Tampa is just killing whoever is on the schedule.
Davis is coming off one of his best starts this year, two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings at the Yankees. He’s had better lines this year, but out-dueling A.J. Burnett in Yankee Stadium is impressive.
Buchholz has the lowest ERA of any Sox starter. That’s impressive considering he’s the lowest paid. He’s really maturing before our eyes and his 1.86 road ERA is just another example.
The Red Sox went just 3-6 at Tampa Bay last year and 1-8 in the 2008 regular season. The Rays just seems to play at a much faster speed, running on Boston’s pitching staff at will.
That’s what happened earlier this year when they swept a four-game series in Fenway, setting the tone for the season.
I’m taking Tampa in the opener (-135).
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