Matt Moore will take the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday afternoon as they open up their best-of-five ALDS on the road at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.
Moore is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA over his five career appearances against the Red Sox, while Boston scheduled starter Jon Lester is 12-9 with a 4.30 ERA in 26 career starts against Tampa Bay. The OVER/UNDER is 1-9 for totals bettors in the 10 most recent Boston vs. Tampa Bay matchups.
View Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox Odds and Stats.
Baseball odds makers, including Sportsbook, opened the Red Sox as -136 moneyline favorites in this matchup. Over under bettors saw the number open at 7.5 at shops such as Sportsbook.
It's a baseball betting matchup between the No. 4-rated Red Sox and the league No. 13-ranked Rays, according to the latest MLB power poll here at Odds Shark.
Boston vs Tampa prop bets - courtesy of Sportsbook:
Series Price
Tampa Bay Rays (Series Prices) 11/10 (+110)
Boston Red Sox (Series Prices) 10/13 (-130)
Series Spread
Tampa Bay Rays -1½ 30/20 (+195)
Boston Red Sox +1½ 2/5 (-250)
Tampa Bay Rays +1½ 1/2 (-200)
Boston Red Sox -1½ 8/5 (+160)
Exact Series Result
Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 7/1 (+700)
Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 7/2 (+350)
Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 4/1 (+400)
Boston Red Sox 3-0 9/2 (+450)
Boston Red Sox 3-1 9/2 (+450)
Boston Red Sox 3-2 3/1 (+300)
Total Games in Series
3 5/2 (+250)
4 3/2 (+150)
5 7/5 (+140)
Over 3½ 4/13 (-325)
Under 3½ 5/2 (+250)
Over 4½ 7/5 (+140)
Under 4½ 10/17 (-170)
Player Props
Most Hits, Runs and RBI's in Series
Evan Longoria (TB) EVEN
David Ortiz (BOS) -130
James Loney (TB) -105
Mike Napoli (BOS) -125
Ben Zobrist (TB) -105
Dustin Pedroia (BOS) -125
Desmond Jennings (TB) -105
Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS) -125
Game 1 Strikeouts
Total Strikeouts - Matt Moore (TB)
Over 5 (-135)
Under 5 (+105)
Total Strikeouts - Jon Lester (BOS)
Over 5½ (-120)
Under 5½ (-110)
The Red Sox were a 7-6 loser in their most recent outing on the road against the Orioles. That made winners of bettors who got Baltimore at -148 on the moneyline, while the total score (13) was good news for OVER bettors. Boston suffered a 7-6 loss against Baltimore on Sunday, as Allen Webster wasn't able to lead his team to victory at Camden Yards.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Boston's No. 1-rated offense, averaging 5.27 runs per game, against a Rays defense that ranks No. 11 at 3.94 in runs allowed per game. The Red Sox have averaged 9.67 hits per game so far, more than Rays batters have averaged on the year (8.71 hits per game).
Pitching and defensive stats are important baseball handicapping factors and Boston has the No. 13-ranked defense. In the other dugout, the Rays own the No. 11 mark in runs allowed.
A few Rays at Red Sox trends to consider:
Tampa Bay is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games
Tampa Bay is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Tampa Bay's last 11 games when playing Boston
Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Boston's last 5 games
Boston is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games at home
Next up:
Tampa Bay at Boston, Saturday, October 5th
