The Tampa Bay Rays have hovered right around the .500 mark for most of the season. They enter this series at 51-52 and down 3.95 units for the campaign. They'll take on the Boston Red Sox, who are still head into the weekend at 44-58 and down 21.89 units.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Few teams are struggling as much as the Red Sox are this year. Not only are they down almost 22 units in 2015, but they’re just 24-27 at Fenway Park, as bad of a record as they’ve had in this stadium in years.
PITCHING MATCHUP
The argument could be made that Matt Moore really should have been kept on the shelf while he continued his rehab from his Tommy John surgery last year.
The southpaw has had five starts since his return, and hasn't had one good outing. Moore has yet to throw 90 pitches in a game, and hasn't pitched into the sixth inning. His best outing was allowing five hits and three runs over five innings against the Astros.
Joe Kelly hasn't been much better for the Red Sox, but he's going to be pitching on Saturday as well.
Kelly's last three starts have been atrocious, as he's allowed a total of 13 earned runs in 12.1 innings of work. The Red Sox are 0-3 in those games.
Kelly sports a 5.94 ERA over 83.1 innings and has just a 2-6 record.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"That's to be determined. Right now, yes, but unless something changes that I'm unaware of right now, I'm sure that will be up for discussion." – Red Sox manager John Farrell on whether Kelly is going to stay in the rotation
SITUATIONAL BETTING
The overused Rays bullpen is going to be called into duty in this one for at least four or five innings. The good news is that many of these pitchers have really good ERAs. The only bad news is that Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger could both be on the move at the trade deadline, and if that's how it plays out, Kevin Cash could have a mess on his hands.
PROP TALK
David Ortiz has had a great second half of the season thus far. Since July 23, he’s batting .360 with four home runs and 11 RBIs. The DH is still batting just .240 for the season, but when he gets hot, you must back him for prop purposes.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
It just feels to us that the Rays have had it this year and are set to go into the tank. This could be a tough series against the Red Sox, even with the hosts not playing their best ball at the moment either.
Ortiz should propel the Boston offense to at least six or seven runs in this one, and though Kelly will likely struggle as well, he'll be the lesser of the two evils when compared to Moore, especially with the way the Rays are playing offensively.
Boston 7, Tampa Bay 5
The baseball betting odds for this Saturday game will first be available at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this televised baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers an adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox will start at 1:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 1, 2015 at Fenway Park in Boston, MA.
