The Boston Red Sox scored a road win against the Cleveland Guardians in the series opener, winning 5-4, can Boston keep it rolling on Wednesday night?
The Red Sox will send out Kutter Crawford on Wednesday in an opener role that has suited him well this season. He will face one of the most underwhelming offenses in baseball in the Guardians, can we expect another strong start before hadning the ball over to the Boston bullpen?
Here are the odds for Wednesday's matchup:
Red Sox vs. Guardians prediction and pick
Red Sox vs. Guardians prediction and pick
Crawford has thrived in his ever-changing role, starting and coming out of the pen but only pitching more than four innings just twice this season in 11 appearances. He has limited his walk rate this season to below two per nine innings and has also dropped his WHIP down to below 1.000. He now gets to face a Guardians lineup that is last in wRC+ ont he year and hitting only .233.
Considering the Guardians struggle to score, most of the run support must come from a Red Sox lineup that is thriving at the plate this season, top 10 in wRC+. However, the team has fared much better at the plate at Fenway Park rather than on the road.
The Red Sox are second in batting average at home this season, .288 as a team, but it drops to .230 on the road, 23rd in the big leagues.
The Guardians have hung around .500 this season behind their pitching staff, the bullpen checks in third in overall ERA and should have the upper hand against a Red Sox team that pads its stats at home.
I'll back the under on Wednesday.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.