MLB odds 'Price' Rays to Finish Sweep of Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay's David Price will be out to pick up his 12th win of the campaign tonight when the Rays host the Boston Red Sox in the finale of their three-game set.
If it seems like the Red Sox and Rays are going at each other daily on one baseball diamond or another, you're not alone. When the two AL East rivals end their current series Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, it will mark the 12th game of the season between the two, roughly 15 percent of their first-half schedules.
The odd thing is with that many head-to-head contests already, one might think that both lineups would have seen the other team's entire starting rotation at least once. But that's not true with both pitchers set to begin Wednesday's game are getting their first looks this season at the other squad.
Boston will try to avoid being swept by the Rays a second series this year and will find Tampa Bay decided 170-180 favorites on the baseball betting board. The number to beat on the scoreboard is 8½, with the 'over' costing bettors a little more at opening.
Carl Crawford's homer in the eighth Tuesday night was the deciding run in a 3-2 Tampa win as 170 chalk. That followed Monday's 6-5 comeback win by the Rays (+160) in which Boston blew a 5-1 lead. Tuesday's 3-2 final also broke a string of four consecutive 'overs' between the two clubs.
The loss dropped the Sox 3.5 games behind New York in the AL East, with Tampa Bay sandwiched between those rivals two games behind the Yankees.
That Boston is even in the AL East conversation is grabs at least a 7.1 on the amazing scale. Yeah, the Red Sox started the year with a loaded roster, making it a case of depth overcoming a season's expected snafus on the injury front. But Beantown's DL list has passed 'normal' and moved straight into the ridiculous stage.
Josh Beckett. Dustin Pedroia. Jacoby Ellsbury. Victor Martinez. Mike Lowell. Clay Buchholz. Jason Varitek. And that isn't the complete medical chart presently, nor does it include other names that have spent time on the DL before now.
Tim Wakefield (5-8, 4.96) has been healthy all season, though his pitching stats have been a bit sick. This will be just his second appearance against the Rays since the 2008 season, a shaky win over them in 2009 snapping a three-game losing skid from 2008.
Even without some of the DL'ed hitters, Boston still leads the majors in offense. The Red Sox lead the majors in scoring and OPS, second in homers and fourth in walks Tampa Bay is third). Boston's plate patience could be key for them to pull this betting upset off since the lineup will face a pitcher prone to allowing the free pass.
David Price (11-5, 2.42) is having a fabulous season, just his second full term in the bigs. He's got a respectable 7.52 K/9 number, a very respectable 2.42 ERA, and most importantly for baseball bettors, Price is a bread winner. Price is up about $2.75 at the window in 2010; the team has lost $3.00 when anyone else starts a game.
Still, Price has allowed 42 walks in just over 102 innings. He's had just one clean sheet in the BB column this season, against a free-swinging Blue Jays lineup, and walked three or more in 10 of his 16 starts. The good news is this will be his third career go at the BoSox, and he's issued just two free passed in the previous two starts over 11 1/3 frames.
Mrs. Tichenor's son Todd will be calling the balls and strikes for this one, and that's even better news for the Rays. It's certainly been good news for those holding tickets on the home teams in the previous 17 games Tichenor called the pitches. Just now in his second full season as an MLB umpire, the 33-year-old Tichenor has a heavy 15-2 lean to home squads in 2010, 11-2 for home faves. The 'over' is also a profitable 10-5-2 (8-3-1 in the 8½-10 range).
Boston takes a day off to travel to Toronto for three this weekend. The Rays remain at home with a four-game series against the Indians beginning Thursday.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
Tampa Bay's David Price will be out to pick up his 12th win of the campaign tonight when the Rays host the Boston Red Sox in the finale of their three-game set.
If it seems like the Red Sox and Rays are going at each other daily on one baseball diamond or another, you're not alone. When the two AL East rivals end their current series Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, it will mark the 12th game of the season between the two, roughly 15 percent of their first-half schedules.
The odd thing is with that many head-to-head contests already, one might think that both lineups would have seen the other team's entire starting rotation at least once. But that's not true with both pitchers set to begin Wednesday's game are getting their first looks this season at the other squad.
Boston will try to avoid being swept by the Rays a second series this year and will find Tampa Bay decided 170-180 favorites on the baseball betting board. The number to beat on the scoreboard is 8½, with the 'over' costing bettors a little more at opening.
Carl Crawford's homer in the eighth Tuesday night was the deciding run in a 3-2 Tampa win as 170 chalk. That followed Monday's 6-5 comeback win by the Rays (+160) in which Boston blew a 5-1 lead. Tuesday's 3-2 final also broke a string of four consecutive 'overs' between the two clubs.
The loss dropped the Sox 3.5 games behind New York in the AL East, with Tampa Bay sandwiched between those rivals two games behind the Yankees.
That Boston is even in the AL East conversation is grabs at least a 7.1 on the amazing scale. Yeah, the Red Sox started the year with a loaded roster, making it a case of depth overcoming a season's expected snafus on the injury front. But Beantown's DL list has passed 'normal' and moved straight into the ridiculous stage.
Josh Beckett. Dustin Pedroia. Jacoby Ellsbury. Victor Martinez. Mike Lowell. Clay Buchholz. Jason Varitek. And that isn't the complete medical chart presently, nor does it include other names that have spent time on the DL before now.
Tim Wakefield (5-8, 4.96) has been healthy all season, though his pitching stats have been a bit sick. This will be just his second appearance against the Rays since the 2008 season, a shaky win over them in 2009 snapping a three-game losing skid from 2008.
Even without some of the DL'ed hitters, Boston still leads the majors in offense. The Red Sox lead the majors in scoring and OPS, second in homers and fourth in walks Tampa Bay is third). Boston's plate patience could be key for them to pull this betting upset off since the lineup will face a pitcher prone to allowing the free pass.
David Price (11-5, 2.42) is having a fabulous season, just his second full term in the bigs. He's got a respectable 7.52 K/9 number, a very respectable 2.42 ERA, and most importantly for baseball bettors, Price is a bread winner. Price is up about $2.75 at the window in 2010; the team has lost $3.00 when anyone else starts a game.
Still, Price has allowed 42 walks in just over 102 innings. He's had just one clean sheet in the BB column this season, against a free-swinging Blue Jays lineup, and walked three or more in 10 of his 16 starts. The good news is this will be his third career go at the BoSox, and he's issued just two free passed in the previous two starts over 11 1/3 frames.
Mrs. Tichenor's son Todd will be calling the balls and strikes for this one, and that's even better news for the Rays. It's certainly been good news for those holding tickets on the home teams in the previous 17 games Tichenor called the pitches. Just now in his second full season as an MLB umpire, the 33-year-old Tichenor has a heavy 15-2 lean to home squads in 2010, 11-2 for home faves. The 'over' is also a profitable 10-5-2 (8-3-1 in the 8½-10 range).
Boston takes a day off to travel to Toronto for three this weekend. The Rays remain at home with a four-game series against the Indians beginning Thursday.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!