Red Sox vs. Rays MLB Picks and Predictions
For one night, at least, the Boston Red Sox were back. After losing the first two of a four-game series at the American League East-leading Tampa Rays, Boston took game three, coming from behind to win 3-2 behind ace Chris Sale. The game snapped a nine-game winning streak for Tampa, who is looking to wrap up the division. Let's check out the MLB odds for this game.
Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Thursday, September 02, 2021 - 07:10 PM EDT at Tropicana Field
Boston rallied in game three, however, coming from behind to win 3-2 behind ace Chris Sale. The Sox now hold out hope of a series split in the Thursday night finale. Boston is now nine games back in the East and two games up for the last Wild Card spot.
The Rays saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end. They still lead the East by seven over the Yankees and are tied for the second-best record in the American League. They’ll look to wrap up a series win prior to the rematch in Boston to start next week.
https://youtu.be/iaxWowl6EAM?t=817
Skeleton Crew
The Red Sox have been battling the first-place Rays short-handed, as COVID-19 testing and tracing seems to take away another Boston player each day. The Red Sox now have eight players on the COVID-19 injury list, including seven that have tested positive.
On Tuesday, shortstop Xander Bogaerts had to be taken out of the game after his COVID results returned. The player who replaced him on the field, Yairo Munoz, was then placed on the COVID list prior to Wednesday’s game after his own COVID result.
Boston’s chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said the current outbreak is “gut-wrenching,” but called for the team to rally.
“We know we still have a job to do,” he said. “The job is to show up every night and try to win a baseball game. That's it at the end of the day. Nobody is going to cut us slack. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. That is the bottom line. Be that as it may, still at the end of the day, we can't make excuses. We've got to go out there and try to win. This is adversity that we have to battle through.”
Boston will attempt to salvage a series split with lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez on Thursday. He’s 10-7, 5.12 on the year. He’s won three of his last four decisions and threw a season-high 109 pitches to beat Cleveland in his last start.
Eduardo Rodriguez #57 of the Boston Red Sox delivers a pitch. Nic Antaya/Getty Images/AFP
Speed Bump
The Rays hit a pothole on their way to dominating the AL East. Prior to Wednesday’s loss, Tampa had won 13 of 14. The Rays had also won 10 straight and 18 of 19 against divisional foes.
“We’re the best (team),” infielder Yandy Diaz said prior to Wednesday’s game.
“Very happy with the way that we’re playing,” manager Kevin Cash agreed. “I think the guys deserve a lot of credit to get to this point. We’ve played five months of good baseball. Let’s play a sixth month.”
That month didn’t get off to a positive start, and the Rays have tweaked their roster prior to the second game of September. Tampa called up veteran reliever David Robertson from Triple-A. He was signed last month after helping to lead Team USA to a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics. He struck out 12 of the 22 batters he faced in Triple-A Durham.
Tampa also called up slick-fielding shortstop Taylor Walls, who played shortstop for the Rays earlier this season, following the Willy Adames trade.
The Rays will try to take their third of the four-game set with Shane McClanahan on the mound. He’s 9-4, 3.59 this year. McClanahan has earned wins in each of his last five starts, despite allowing at least a half dozen baserunners in each. Still, he has a 2.90 ERA since the All-Star break.
The Pick
For the most part, the Red Sox stood pat at the trade deadline, and part of the reason was a belief that Chris Sale, returning from a season-long stint on the injury list, would act as a key acquisition late in the year. He paid dividends on Wednesday night, but for our MLB picks, look for a return to the scuffling Red Sox of the post trade deadline era with someone else on the mound Thursday.
MLB Pick: (visit our Sportsbook Review)
*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.
