Rays vs. Red Sox MLB Preview and Best Bet

The top two teams in the American League East square off with the possibility that the race could come to an end this week. After leading the division for much of the season, the Boston Red Sox are in a spiral and have fallen four games behind the red hot Tampa Bay Rays. According to top sportsbooks, the Rays could deliver the knockout blow this week, while the Sox hope to get back into the mix.

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox 

Tuesday, August 10, 2021 – 07:10 PM EDT at Fenway Park

Could the American League East race come to an end this week? The two top contenders in the division square off, heading in opposite directions. If those trajectories continue in the three-game series at Fenway Park that begins Tuesday night, we could be looking at a coronation.

After jumping to a surprising lead in the East, the Boston Red Sox sat atop the division for much of the year. Boston chose not to sell out at the trade deadline, and, as the other teams in the division snapped up star players, the Sox stood pat.

The results were immediate: Boston immediately fell into a spiral and has lost nine of the last 11 games and seen a two and a half game lead in the East turn into a four-game deficit.

The Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, have gotten hot at the best possible time. They’re currently riding their second four-game winning streak in the last 10 games. The first included a three-game home sweep of Boston that put the Rays atop the division. Take it into consideration for your MLB picks.

Boston looks to the rematch at home as a chance to get back into the race and stop the bleeding. Tampa, meanwhile, is looking to deal a death blow and turn its attention toward the postseason.

Getting Back a Contributor

The Rays swept the Orioles over the weekend while missing one of the hottest bats in their lineup. Randy Arozarena, a hero of last year’s postseason run, didn’t make the trip to Baltimore after he came into close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID. Arozarena didn’t have a positive test, but contract tracing sent him to the injured list.

The Rays hope to have him back as soon as Tuesday to start the Boston series. He’s been hitting .404 with six home runs in the last two weeks and has an OPS over 1.000 over the last month. The Rays will get things started in Boston with Luis Patino on the mound. The righthander is 2-3 with a 4.42 ERA this season. His ERA is nearly a half run higher as a starter, however.

Tampa also hopes to get back Kevin Kiermaier, who left Saturday’s game and sat out Sunday with knee soreness.

Boston Massacre

What happened to the Red Sox? That’s been the only topic of conversation in New England for the past two weeks. Boston just finished a 2-8 road trip and now stands closer to fourth place in the AL East than first.

J.D. Martinez is a 4x All-Star! pic.twitter.com/BaEs5sAYks

— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 4, 2021

The Red Sox have seen everything go wrong at once. The starting pitching has struggled since the All-Star Break, and the lineup has gone into a prolonged slump. JD Martinez is hitting just .253 in the second half of the season, and Xander Bogaerts is at .221, creating a black hole in the part of the order that should be doing most of the damage. As a team, the Sox are hitting just .201 with runners in scoring position. There are only two teams hitting worse in clutch situations.

Even the team’s defense is struggling. Five Red Sox players are in the top two in the league in errors committed at their positions. Boston’s starter for Tuesday, Eduardo Rodriguez, has been alternating good and bad starts recently. He failed to get out of the fourth inning against Toronto, walking a season-high four, but then he bounced back and struck out 10 in five shutout innings to beat Detroit last time out. He’s 8-6, 5.53 on the year. Take it into consideration for your MLB odds.

The Pick

The trendy pick seems to be to go with the Red Sox to make one last stand at home. In fact, Boston is the favorite in the game, creating one of the best underdog teams you’ll come across. The Sox will probably take at least one of the games in the series, but Tampa is too tempting to pass up at that price.

MLB Pick: Rays (+110) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)

Rays (+110)

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*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds. 

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