In this AL East matchup, the Rays (83-55, 45-24 home) play host to the Red Sox (72-66, 36-33 away) at Tropicana Field. Taking the mound for the Rays is Zach Eflin, while the Red Sox will go with Kutter Crawford. Check out my pick for two of this Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox matchup.

BOSTON RED SOX VS TAMPA BAY RAYS BETTING PICK

The Pick: Boston Red Sox +135

This game will be played at Tropicana Field at 6:40 ET on Tuesday, September 5th.

WHY BET THE BOSTON RED SOX:

  • In their last five games, the Red Sox have a record of 3-2.
  • Over their last ten games on the road, Boston has a straight-up record of 7-3.
  • Kutter Crawford has done a good job at avoiding the long-ball of late, having not given up a home-run in each of his past two starts.

BOSTON RED SOX ON A RUNLINE WIN STREAK

This season, the Red Sox are 72-66, putting them 4th in the AL East. On the road this season, Boston has been above .500 team at 36-33. Overall, they have gone 23-17-4 in their 44 series.

Kutter Crawford will take the mound for the Red Sox with a 6-7 record. Through 26 appearances, his ERA is 4.08, K/9 is 8.86, FIP is 4.07, and OBP is .283.

Kutter Crawford’s most recent start saw the Red Sox suffer a 7-4 defeat to the Astros. The right-hander was tagged for six earned runs on seven hits over a brief appearance.

Offensively, Boston is ranked 7th in the league with an average of 5 runs per game. When looking over their last five matchups, the Red Sox averaged 5.8 runs per contest, which is 6th best in that span. In terms of their power numbers, Boston is 14th in all of baseball, with a total of 165 home runs.

Adam Duvall has been a major contributor to the Red Sox’s offensive success this season, as evidenced by his five home runs in the team’s last ten games and his season-long total of 19. The slugger has also maintained a solid batting average of .273.

WILL THE TAMPA BAY RAYS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AT HOME?

Leading up to today’s game, the Rays are 2nd in the AL East on a record of 83-55. Overall, they have played in 44 different series, going 25-13-6. When playing above .500 teams, the Rays are 83-55, and currently hold win percentages of 65.2% at home and 55.1% on the road.

Today marks Zach Eflin’s 27th outing of the season, and he has been impressive thus far with a 13-8 record. His ERA is 3.40 and opponents are batting just .258 against him. He has registered 151 strikeouts and his WHIP stands at 1.02. When pitching away from home, Eflin’s ERA is 4.54, while it drops to 3.83 when he takes the mound at home.

Despite going the distance in his last start, Zach Eflin was unable to earn a decision in the Rays’ 3-0 victory over the Marlins. The right-hander yielded no runs on four hits over 6 1/3 innings of work.

The Rays have been one of the top power lineups in the league of late, having hit 12 home runs over their last ten games. Compared to other clubs, this is 9th best in that span. For the season, they are ranked 4th in home runs and 4th in slugging percentage. Overall, Tampa Bay is averaging 5.3 runs per game (4th).

Brandon Lowe has been a key contributor to the Tampa Bay offense this season, boasting a .233 batting average and .433 slugging percentage. In the team’s last ten games, Lowe has been especially impressive, leading the Rays in hits with a .325 batting average.