LINE: Boston Red Sox (-210) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (+180) – total: 7.5
These are two teams that have been hot lately – the Red Sox are on a six-game winning streak and have seven different players hitting a home run in the past week, while the Rays are winners in four of their last six and have three guys crushing two or more homers in the same span.
Chris Sale (13-4, 2.70 ERA) and Austin Pruitt (6-2, 5.60 ERA) from the ‘Sox and Rays, respectively, are the two pitchers matching up. Sale is coming off his worst performance of the season (seven allowed runs in five innings), while Pruitt is fresh off one of his best, as he threw for 6.1 scoreless innings.
The Rays lead the season series, 6-5.
Writer’s prediction:
The Red Sox (-210) even the series with a 6-4 victory.
L.A. Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (9:40 PM ET)
LINE: L.A. Dodgers (-123) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (+113)- total: 9.0
The Dodgers just recorded the best 50-game stretch of any MLB team in 105 years (43-7). They also have a pair of scorching hitters in the past week, as Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor have combined for seven dingers and 12 RBIs in that time frame.
Over at the Diamondbacks’ side, meanwhile, is an inconsistent bunch, as they are an unpredictable 3-4 since July 30th. Unlike the Dodgers, they also have one lone good batter in the last seven days, with Paul Goldschmidt’s three-homer, 11-RBI week being the only notable stat of anyone in the team.
Kenta Maeda (10-4, 3.79 ERA) of the Dodgers, who tossed seven scoreless innings in his last start, will be back on the mound. He’ll be going up against Zack Godley, who, on the other hand, has allowed zero runs in his last two starts (13 innings).
