Having played one another in a crucial postseason series last fall, American League foes renew acquaintances for the second of a three-game series Tuesday when the Houston Astros meet the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The home team picked up a 6-3 win on Monday after waiting out an hour-and-a-half-long rain delay.
It was the third win in four tries for the Red Sox (14-21), who are looking to make success more of a habit now. Boston is three teams removed from the lead in the AL East. They’re a dozen games back of the New York Yankees as it stands.
After ripping off an 11-game win streak, the Astros (23-13) have dropped two of three. In what might have looked like an easy trip recently, the Red Sox might be able to test Houston’s mettle.
The Astros, regular title contenders for half a decade now, are currently neck-and-neck with the Los Angeles Angels for the division’s perch.
Houston’s offensive won’t necessarily jump off the page at you, but their hitters are basically what you could ask for. Designated hitter Michael Brantley paces the crew with a .281 average, left fielder Yordan Alvarez with 11 home runs, and third baseman Alex Bregman with 22 runs driven in.
Astros at Red Sox Odds
MLB odds have the Astros as slight favorites to take this one. Houston is -1.5 on the run line at -152, while the Red Sox are -184 to cover the spread.
On the moneyline, Houston is -102 and Boston -116. The total has been set at nine runs, with the over being -106 and the under -114 at the time of this writing.
With a .346 average, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who went yard Monday, is at the front of a trio who’s been potent at the plate. Third baseman Rafael Devers (.322) and designated hitter J.D. Martinez (.321) round out that small group.
Devers also leads the club in homers (6), RBIs (19), and total knocks (47).
If the Red Sox can follow these guys’ leads, it’s not at all far-fetched to see them pull out a second in a row.
Matchup Information
Astros at Red Sox Betting Preview
The Red Sox will send 13th-year righty Nathan Eovaldi out for the start. Eovaldi (1-1) boasts a respectable 3.15 ERA, but Boston has fallen short in each of his previous four outings.
His last time out, he put in 6.1 innings of work, allowing six hits and three earned runs.
Eovaldi has set down 42 on strikes and has a 1.08 WHIP.
Meanwhile, Houston has come out on top of Jose Urquidy’s last three starts. Urquidy, a righty in his fourth year, is 2-1 and has a 4.40 ERA.
In 40 career games played, he sports a 3.66 ERA. He’s conceded five runs in his last three times out combined.
MLB betting trends suggest one of these guys will come up big in this matchup.
Astros at Red Sox Predictions
Both of the groups made deep postseason runs a year ago, but one has fallen behind in looking to repeat that effort. Sometimes it’s the spirit of stiff competition that brings out the best in a team.
This could very well be the case with Boston Red Sox, who has a core of batters that can get things going offensively and a capable pitcher to boot.
The Red Sox know they’ll need to start stringing together some victories in order to have any sort of chance of catching up with the arch-rival Yankees. The Astros bounced them from a shot at the World Series in 2021, so who better to get such a run started against?
In one of the more interesting MLB picks today, Boston should be able to make some noise here. Take the Red Sox to win outright as things start snowballing in their favor.
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