Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers Betting Preview/Player Prop
04 August 2021
Boston comes into this game with an overall record of 63-45, but they are starting to head in the wrong direction. The Red Sox have seen their lead in the AL East disappear, and they have currently lost five straight games.
Detroit has gone 3-2 in its last five games, and this team has been trending in the right direction since a poor start. The Tigers are still just 52-57 on the year, but they are 31-24 when playing at home.
The Boston Red Sox are the betting favorites at -150 for the second game of this series against the Tigers.
Boston Bats Have Cooled Off
The Red Sox built up a comfortable lead in the AL East Division by overwhelming opponents with a consistent and deep offensive attack. That remained the case throughout the entire first half of the season, but the offense has started to really cool off of late.
Boston managed just two runs in the series opener on Tuesday night, and they are going to need to bust out the bats on Wednesday. Eduardo Rodriguez is set to start for the Red Sox, and he is just 7-6 with a whopping 5.60 ERA this season.
Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts have turned into a two-man show on offense for Boston, but this duo needs some help. Devers has 27 home runs and 82 RBIs this season, while Bogaerts leads the team with a .307 average.
Tigers Suddenly Getting Pitching
The Tigers have always been a solid offensive team, but they are starting to get some great work from the pitching staff. Detroit has given up just 14 total runs over the last five games, and that is good enough to win on most nights.
Casey Mize is set to start on Wednesday, and he will be tough on the Boston lineup. Mize brings a 6-5 record into this game to go along with a 3.41 ERA.
Miguel Cabrera belted a home run in the win on Tuesday night, and he remains a solid hitter for the Tigers. This Detroit team doesn’t have many big names besides Cabrera, but they can find some offense.
Tigers Sink the Red Sox
Boston has clearly been better than Detroit so far this season, but the Red Sox are not playing their best baseball at this time. The Tigers have been building up some momentum, and they have been giving some opponents trouble of late.
The Red Sox just can’t seem to find offense at this time, and the Tigers are capable of putting up some runs. Boston is going to figure this thing out eventually, but it’s not going to happen in this game.
Detroit is going to stun the Red Sox again on Wednesday night to continue to rough patch for Boston. Bet the Detroit Tigers money line over the Boston Red Sox in this matchup.
Player Prop
Eduardo Rodriguez (-107) Under 6.5 Strikeouts
The Tigers took full advantage of the Red Sox’ recent struggles last night by jumping on starting pitcher Garrett Richards early and knocking him out after just four-plus innings.
That’s the kind of ball A.J. Hinch’s team has been playing lately, especially at home, where Detroit is a healthy 31-24 on the season. The offense has been much more productive overall with a .272 batting average since the All-Star break compared just .236 prior to the break. And they have enjoyed facing lefthanders with a .251 batting average compared to .238 versus righthanders.
That’s the situation the Tigers will face tonight as they take on Boston lefty Eduardo Rodriguez. The 28-year-old Venezualan has had struggles of his own lately. Following a win over Baltimore on May 7, his record stood at 5-0 with 3.82 ERA. Rodriguez is just 2-6 since then and his ERA has ballooned to 5.60.
Teams have been making harder contact against him as well with an opposing batting average of .283 this season compared to .253 last year and .238 in 2018.
No paper Tigers right now, we’ll take Detroit’s offense (-107) to keep Rodriguez’ K total under 6.5.
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