What’s Friday without a baseball wager? Two intriguing matchups are on tap later tonight with the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays engaging in a divisional tussle while the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers lock horns in an interleague meeting. Read on for a brief rundown of each game.
Drew Pomeranz (8-4, 3.64 ERA) would like to keep the good times rolling for him and the Red Sox as he pitches tonight against Tampa Bay. Pomeranz has picked up a win in each of his last two starts, wherein he allowed just one total earned run on nine hits across nine innings. The Rays, meanwhile, will have Jake Odorizzi, who is 5-3 with a 4.08 ERA in 15 starts this year. Odorizzi tamed the Baltimore Orioles in his last start, giving up three earned runs on five hits in 5.0 innings of a 10-3 victory on Jul. 1.
Writer’s Prediction
Boston wins, 7-4.
Kansas City Royals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (10:10 PM ET)
Jason Hammel (4-7, 5.08 ERA) gets another crack at getting his first win in Chavez Ravine later tonight against the Dodgers. Hammel is 0-5 with a 5.35 ERA in six career starts at Dodger Stadium and will be pitching on the heels of an ugly start, having allowed six earned runs on nine hits in just 5.1 innings of a 10-5 road loss to the Minnesota Twins on Jul. 1. The Dodgers, on the other hand, will be sending Kenta Maeda to the mound. Maeda is 6-4 with a 4.56 ERA in 15 appearances this season. He’s also getting 6.75 worth of run support per nine innings.
