Red Sox vs. Athletics prediction and odds for Tuesday, July 18

The Red Sox have been the best offensive team in baseball this month and the Oakland A's certainly aren't going to be the team to cool them off.

Boston Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida (7)
Boston Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida (7) / Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Last night’s 7-0 win over the Oakland Athletics makes eight of nine for the 51-44 Boston Red Sox, but they’re not the only team on a streak. The Athletics have lost eight straight games including four to the Red Sox.

Tonight will be Game 2 of this series out in Oakland and Boston needs to keep taking care of business after leapfrogging the Yankees in the AL East standings. 

The Red Sox are taking their time deciding on a starting pitcher tonight against Luis Medina who is 2-7 with a 6.34 ERA in 12 appearances for the A’s.

Here are the odds for Game 2 of this three-game series in Oakland. 

Red Sox vs. Athletics odds, run line and total

Red Sox vs. Athletics prediction and pick

The Red Sox are not slowing down on offense. This month they are first in the MLB in team OPS at .897 and first in runs scored with 79. Alex Verdugo has struggled this month, but almost every other hitter for Boston has been the best version of themselves.

Rafael Devers, Justin Turner and Masataka Yoshida have driven in 37 of their 79 runs this month and Jarren Duran is hitting .472 and has scored 12 runs. 

The Red Sox are going to score runs on the A’s tonight. The A’s are a big reason that the Red Sox caught fire when they played earlier this month.

Medina has had a couple of solid starts, but he allowed four runs over six innings to the Red Sox last time out and four runs will be enough to beat Oakland and their league worst lineup. 

If Boston is going with a bullpen day, that isn’t great news, but the Sox are a league average bullpen and that’s better than Oakland’s league worst pen with a 5.77 ERA. Anything less than a sweep in this series is a failure for Boston. 

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE


Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change