Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox: MLB Odds & Picks
Written April 7, 2009 by Steve Janus
After yesterday’s opening day at Fenway Park was postponed due to inclement weather, the Boston Red Sox are scheduled to host the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday at 4:05 PM EST.  The game marks a rematch of the 2008 American League Championship series, a series the Rays won in 7 games to earn entry to the 2008 World Series. Let’s take a look at today’s starters and starting lineups and figure out who has the edge in today’s game. The MLB betting lines for the game has Boston -151 or Tampa Bay +131.
Tampa Bay Starting Pitching – James Shields - Shields has become a workhorse for the Rays’ staff, throwing for 215 innings in each of the past two seasons. He was an integral part of Tampa’s success last year, and while he did not fair well overall against the Sox in 2008, he did turn in one great performance. In four starts, Shields went just 2-2 with a 5.85 ERA against Boston, notched a two-hit shutout with 7 strikeouts and just one walk back on April 27th, 2008. The bad news for the Rays is that Shields has pitched his worst against the Red Sox at Fenway, coming into today’s game with a 0-3 record and a 10.13 ERA in his 3 starts at the park.
Red Sox Starting Pitching – Josh Beckett – Last year Josh Beckett started the season on the disabled list, but for the 2009 season looks as strong as ever after turning in an impressive Spring Training. He hasn’t started on opening day since 2005, but in 2006 and 2007 threw in the home opener for the Red Sox, winning both games. Beckett has a strong history against Tampa Bay, earning a 5-3 record and a 3.11 ERA in 10 career starts. He hasn’t been as good at Fenway as you might expect, having gone 21-16 with a 4.79 ERA there in his career, but he has always started the season strong, going 18-10 with a 3.35 ERA in April.
Tampa Bay Hitting - The Rays added Pat ‘The Bat” Burrell in the off-season to give them a little more pop from the DH position. I also think this team will benefit from a healthy Carl Crawford this year, as the left-field battled with injuries for most of last season. Tampa is strong in the middle of the order with Crawford, Evan Longoria, and Carlos Pena, and they’ll be even better when B.J. Upton returns to the lineup.
Boston Hitting – The Red Sox start the 2009 season with a similar roster to their 2008 squad, and that is by no means a bad thing. I do wonder if David Ortiz can continue to be productive as he continues to be nagged with injuries. Boston has a couple of great young players in Jacoby Ellsbury and last year’s MVP, Dustin Pedroia, but they are still young and it will be interesting to see how they each react to their early success in the big leagues. Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis are two guys in this lineup that I feel the Red Sox can count on night after night for production. As long as they find ways to get guys on base in front of them, they’ll continue to score a lot of runs. This is of course only helped if Ortiz is healthy and hitting the ball like we all know he can.
Other Factors: Defensive Edge – Tampa Bay, Bullpen Edge – Boston
Predicted Score: Boston Red Sox 7, Tampa Bay Rays 4
Play on: Boston Red Sox -151
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i think boston has this also. GO HEELS!
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Good call… boston will win…
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