The Tampa Bay Rays are the talk of baseball right now, tearing through the competition through the early part of the season, undefeated through nine games of the season.
The Red Sox will try to play spoiler for Tampa Bay's perfect season as they head to Tropicana Field to start a four game series on Monday. Nick Pivetta will take the mound against Tampa Bay's sweet swinging lineup and Boston will face left hander Jalen Beeks.
The Red Sox have had success against southpaws, will it be enough to hand Tampa Bay its first loss?
Here are the odds:
Red Sox vs. Rays odds, run line and total
Red Sox vs. Rays prediction and pick
The Red Sox have consistently been an elite team at hitting left handed pitching. The team was fifth last season against southpaws, posting a .265 batting average, and is seventh so far this year at a staggering .311 average.
They face Beeks, one of the backend rotation pieces for the undefeated Rays. I expect Beeks to struggle and while the Rays have an elite bullpen behind him, is some regression set to come in in terms of wins and losses?
The Rays are yet to lose, but they also played arguably the three worst teams in baseball: the Tigers, the Nationals and the Athletics. While the team may be set to contend yet again, expecting them to win every game is not rational.
I think the Red Sox's bats is enough to justify taking the underdog on the moneyline to hand Tampa Bay its first loss of the year.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.