The Tampa Bay Rays (+225 to win the AL East) are in a middle of a rebuild, but they have a better record than the Boston Red Sox – the defending World Series champs. The Rays will look to add to Boston’s malaise in an upcoming series at Fenway Park. Conversely, the Red Sox (+450) hope to cut down the Rays’ lead on them in the American League East division standings.
Porcello has been shaky on the mound in his last two starts. Over that span, he allowed eight earned runs on 17 hits across 11.1 innings. A match against the Rays could just be what the doctor ordered for Porcello, though. The last time he faced off with Tampa Bay, he held the Rays down to only an unearned run on six hits in 5.2 innings of a 6-5 road won last April. The Rays have the best ERA in the majors for starters with 2.71.
Hitting
Matt Duffy is 9-for-21 in career vs. Porcello.
Xander Bogaerts is batting .355 at home this season, as of this writing.
Prediction: Boston wins, 4-3.
GAME 2
Starters: Ryan Yarbrough (0-0, 6.23 ERA) vs. David Price (3-2, 2.83 ERA)
Pitching:
Yarbrough got rocked in his lats trip to the hill, as he gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings of a 9-7 home loss to the Minnesota Twins on Jun. 2. Yarbrough has one appearance (in relief) against Boston this season, wherein he surrendered three earned runs on three hits in 3.0 innings of a 6-4 home loss last April. Price earned a win in his last start in which he yielded just two earned runs on six hits in 6.1 innings of an 8-5 win on the road against the New York Yankees on Jun. 2. He is 1-1 with a 0.95 ERA in three home starts this season.
Hitting
Austin Meadows is hitting .318 against southpaws this year, as of this writing.
J.D. Martinez is batting .354 against lefties this season, as of this writing.
Prediction: Tampa Bay wins, 5-4.
GAME 3
Starters: TBD vs. TBD
Pitching:
The Rays and the Red Sox have yet to release the names of probable pitchers for this game. If anything, the Rays have the lowest FIP in the majors with 2.90, while the Red Sox are eighth with 4.04.
Hitting
The Rays are currently ninth in the league with a wOBA of .329.
The Red Sox are sixth in the majors in wOBA with .334.
Snell had a rare misstep in his last start, when he let the Detroit Tigers go off for six runs on seven hits in the pitcher’s 4.1 innings of work on the mound resulting in a 9-6 road loss for Tampa Bay. Snell is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in six road starts this season. Rodriguez handled the Kansas City Royals with relative ease on Jun. 4, allowing just two earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts in an 8-3 road win. He is 0-2 with a 6.42 ERA in seven career starts against the Rays.
Hitting
Kevin Kiermaier is a career .293 hitter at Fenway Park.
J.D. Martinez enters the series with a .271 batting average in career against Tampa Bay.
