The Red Sox’s offense woke up in Game 2 of their series against the Orioles, who are still patiently waiting for Chris Davis and crew to find their supposedly fearsome hitting form. Meanwhile, the Kings and Sharks engage in a battle between two teams already assured of playoff spots.
Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles (7:05 PM EST)
Line: Boston Red Sox (+105) at Baltimore Orioles (-115); total 9.0 (View Lines Here)
Betting on the Boston Red Sox
[sc:MLB240banner ]David Ortiz took a selfie with the President the other day. He also took the Orioles deep early in Game 2 to start the eventual 6-2 demolition of Baltimore, the Red Sox’s first win of the season. Boston has now gone under in its first two games of the season after last night’s match-up failed to cover the total line of 8.5.
Ortiz crushed a homer in the third inning, driving himself and Dustin Pedroia to home plate for an early 2-0 lead but Nelson Cruz answered it at the bottom of the fifth with a two-run homer of his own. It was the Orioles’ last hurrah as they paved the way for the Mike Napoli show.
Napoli hit a two-run homer in the fifth and drove two more runs in the seventh to cap off the night with a four-RBI performance. John Lackey pitched six innings and gave up three hits and two runs to pick up his first win of the season.
The Red Sox hope to win the series tonight with Felix Doubront on the mound. Boston has won all of the left-hander’s last five road starts in 2013. Behind the plate, Dustin Pedroia has had big success against Orioles’ starter Wei-Yin Chen. The 2008 AL MVP is 11-19 (.579) lifetime against Chen. Overall, the current roster of the Red Sox is .366 against the Taiwanese hurler.
Betting on the Baltimore Orioles
Ubaldo Jimenez had an unforgettable debut as an Oriole after the Red Sox ran away with a 6-2 victory last night. Jimenez surrendered four runs to the defending champions in six innings of work before being relieved by Ryan Webb, who then proceeded to give up two more runs.
After closing out last season 3-0 over at home, the Orioles have now gone under two in a row at Camden Yards partly because of their poor offense. They have only managed three runs in the series thus far, with new acquisition Nelson Cruz and J.J. Hardy showing life in the hitting department. Nelson has hit a homer in each of Baltimore’s first two games, while Hardy is hitting .375, going 3-8 in the series.
Starter Wei-Yin Chen has given the Orioles seven wins in his last 10 starts at home. In addition, Baltimore is 3-1 in Chen’s last four home starts against the Red Sox.
Prediction
Wei-Yin Chen will once again be peppered with hits tonight and won’t be given enough run support by his teammates. The Red Sox will win this game as +105 underdogs by a margin of three runs.
Los Angeles Kings vs. San Jose Sharks (10:30 PM EST)
Line: Los Angeles Kings (+135) at San Jose Sharks (-155); total 5.0 (View Lines Here)
Betting on the Los Angeles Kings
The Kings shrugged off the loss to Minnesota (3-2) last Monday, which cut their winning streak to six games, and bounced back strong with a 4-0 whitewashing of Phoenix, to clinch the team’s fifth straight playoff berth.
The Kings will now start a four-game road trip at San Jose. They are 8-0 in their last eight games away from Staples Center. Moreover, they are 4-1 in their last five meetings with the Sharks.
Los Angeles is only scoring 2.4 goals a game throughout the season, but has been finding the net more frequently as of late, netting an average of 3.4 goals over the last five games.
Betting on the San Jose Sharks
Once again, the Sharks prevented a three-game skid by defeating Edmonton in a high scoring affair last night, 5-4. It was the same scenario when San Jose beat the Oilers last March 25 after suffering back-to-back losses to Washington and Calgary.
San Jose is one of the best defending teams in the league with a season average of 2.4 goals allowed per game — no. 4 in the NHL. However, the Sharks seemed to have slipped a bit on defense, giving up nine goals in five games. They are 3-1 over in their last four games, and 2-0 in the last two at home.
With Antti Niemi working between the pipes tonight for the Sharks, San Jose is keen on extending its eight game streak at home against the Kings when the Finnish netminder starts.
Prediction
The Kings have coupled their formidable defense with a pleasant surge on offense lately. They will reign supreme in this game and will win as +135 road underdogs.
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