Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, Odds and Preview - 08/30/2021

Game Time: 7:10 pm ET, Monday, August 30, 2021

Venue:  Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

Where to Watch:  ESPN, NESN

DraftKings:  Red Sox +110, Rays -130; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

Bet365:  Red Sox +105, Rays -125; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

BetMGM:  Red Sox +110, Rays -135; Over/Under:  9 runs

 

Boston Red Sox:  75-56 (3rd place, AL East)

Tampa Bay Rays:  82-48 (1st place, AL East)

 

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Boston Red Sox:  6-4 last 10

Tampa Bay Rays:  9-1 last 10

 

 

 

 

The Boston Red Sox have been great with their hitters this season, ranking in the top 10 of the MLB. They are ranked 3rd in the league for batting average (.259), 6th in the league for RBI (627), 2nd in the league for hits (1147), and they are ranked 8th in the league for OBP (.326). The Tampa Bay Rays have been pretty good with their hitters this season, ranking in the top half of the MLB. They are ranked 17th in the league for batting average (.240), 2nd in the league for RBI (658), 11th in the league for hits (1061), and they are ranked 13th in the league for OBP (.319).

 

 

The Boston Red Sox have been pretty good this season with their pitching, ranking in the top half of the MLB. They are ranked 15th in the league for ERA (4.25), 4th in the league for saves (40), 6th in the league for strikeouts (1231), and they are ranked 25th in the league for WHIP (1.38). The Tampa Bay Rays have been great this season with their pitching, ranking as a top 10 team in the MLB. They are ranked 6th in the league for ERA (3.69), 9th in the league for saves (35), 8th in the league for strikeouts (1212), and they are ranked 4th in the league for WHIP (1.18).

 

The Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays are beginning a four-game series on Monday night. The Tampa Bay Rays come into this game holding down the 1st place spot in the American League East with a 5.5 game lead over the New York Yankees. The Red Sox are currently sitting in 3rd place of the same division holding down the final wildcard spot for the playoffs in the American League with a 3.5 game lead over the Oakland Athletics. The Red Sox had Nathan Eovaldi as the starter in their last game on Saturday and have Tanner Houck starting on Sunday with that result still pending. The Rays had Michael Wacha starting on the mound in their last game on Saturday and have Chris Archer starting for Sunday night baseball with that result still pending. Nick Pivetta and Luis Patino will be the starters for Monday's game.

The Red Sox are currently on a 3 game win streak and have won 4 of their last 6 games with Sunday's result pending. They won 5-3 on Saturday against the Cleveland Indians winning that three-game series with the first 2 games under their belt already. Nick Pivetta will be the starting pitcher in this game. He is 9-6 with a 4.57 ERA this season. He has not been pitching well in recent games. The team has lost 4 of his last 5 starts. He has allowed 8 ER in his last 2 starts allowing exactly 4 in each game. In his last start on Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins, the team lost 9-6 as he allowed 4 runs, including 2 homers and 2 walked batters on 6 hits through 4 IP. Luckily, the Red Sox hitters have been red hot in recent games. They have scored 46 runs total in their last 6 games averaging almost 8 runs scored per game. The pitching does not always need to be there for them because even when it is not, the hitters will be able to bail this team out.

The Rays have been doing incredible recently, currently on a 6 game win streak and have won 10 of their last 11 games, with Sunday's result still pending. They won 4-3 in their last game against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday. Luis Patino will be the starter on Monday and he has been alright recently. He is 3-3 this season with a 4.53 ERA. The team has won 4 of his last 6 starts. He has allowed 11 runs total in his last 4 starts averaging almost 3 runs per game but, he allowed exactly 2 ER in his last 2 starts. In his last time out against the Chicago White Sox, he allowed 2 runs, 1 being a homer, and 1 walked batter on 5 hits through 6 frames. The Rays have been red hot with their batters in recent games. They have scored a whopping 76 runs total in their last 11 games, averaging basically 7 runs scored per game. Both their pitching (rotation and bullpen) and their hitting has been too good; they are really hard to bet against while playing at this level. 

The Red Sox odds are listed as a slight underdog while the Rays odds are listed as a slight favorite. Boston has been playing really well but this Tampa Bay franchise has a lot of talent and depth on their roster and has just been too good on both sides of the ball as they storm up the standings pulling further and further away each day. At such a short line there is a lot of value for betting on the Rays with the way they have been playing.

 

Red Sox Rays Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Monday, August 30, 2021 (7:10pm ET start time) is Rays 9 Red Sox 5.

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Boston Red Sox: 24-20 (+10.8 units) as an underdog of +100 or higher, 75-56 (10.5 units) in all games, 19-17 (+7.8 units) as a road underdog of +100 or higher.

Tampa Bay Rays: 33-16 (+13.2 units) when the money line is +100 to -150, 54-26 (+13.9 units) as a favorite -110 or higher, 81-48 (+24.6 units) in all games.

 

 

Boston Red Sox:  Hunter Renfroe (RF) Out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury.

Tampa Bay Rays:  Ji-Man Choi (1B) Out indefinitely with a hamstring injury.

 

 

Boston Red Sox: One player to watch in this game is Rafael Devers. He leads his team in homeruns with 30 and in RBI with 96. His batting average is .278 and his OBP is .356. He has 130 hits this season and has scored 80 runs. In his last game he had 2 hits on 4 AB and 1 walk. He will be a player that will need to deliver if his team expects to keep up with this heavy hitting Rays squad.

 

Tampa Bay Rays: Randy Arozarena is one player to watch in this game. He had an amazing rookie year and is leading his team in hits this season with 119. His batting average is .274 and his OBP is .352. He has 17 homeruns, 58 RBI, and has scored 76 runs for them this year. In his last game he had 2 RBI and scored 1 run on 1 hit in 4 AB. He will want to keep that momentum up and carry it over into the next series. 

 

"I told myself to relax, put the ball in the air and get the run in. I was fortunate to be able to flush it and get it out." - J.D. Martinez on hitting the game winning HR on Saturday night.

 

 

"We've done a good job coming back late. We've done a good job adding runs late in games. You do notice in the dugout the guys stay consistent with their mentality." - Kevin Cash on getting the win late in the game on Saturday.

 

 

J. Duran (CF)

K. Schwarber (LF)

J.D. Martinez (DH)

X. Bogaerts (SS)

R. Devers (3B)

A. Verdugo (RF)

C. Vazquez (C)

T. Shaw (1B)

J. Arauz (2B)

 

R. Arozarena (LF)

N. Cruz (DH)

W. Franco (SS)

Y. Diaz (3B)

B. Lowe (2B)

M. Margot (RF)

J. Luplow (1B)

F. Mejia (C)

K. Kiermaier (CF)

 

 

Batting Average:  Xander Bogaerts (.298)

Hits:  Xander Bogaerts (134)

Home Runs:  Rafael Devers (30)

RBI:  Rafael Devers (96)

Stolen Bases:  Christian Vasquez (8)

Wins:  Nathan Eovaldi (10)

Saves:  Matt Barnes (24)

ERA:  Garrett Whitlock (1.57)

 

Batting Average:  Joey Wendle (.279)

Hits:  Randy Arozarena (119)

Home Runs:  Brandon Lowe (30)

RBI:  Austin Meadows (91)

Stolen Bases:  Brett Phillips (13)

Wins:  Josh Fleming (10)

Saves:  Peter Fairbanks (5)

ERA:  Andrew Kittredge (1.32)

 

Managers:

Boston Red Sox: Alex Cora (3rd season, non-consecutive)

Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash (7th season)

 

84 degrees partly sunny, 75% humidity, 10% chance of rain, 6 mph winds East.