Cleveland Indians (67-65) vs. Boston Red Sox (78-59)
September 4, 2021 4:10 pm EDT
The Line: Boston Red Sox -196 / Cleveland Indians +168; Over/Under: 9
(Get latest betting odds)
The Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox meet in MLB action from Fenway Park on Saturday.
The Cleveland Indians will look to bounce back from an 8-5 loss at the hands of the Red Sox on Friday. Jose Ramirez and Austin Hedges each had a home run and two RBIs with Hedges launching a two-run shot while Ramirez had a solo home run with a double. Bobby Bradley had two hits with an RBI to round out Cleveland’s scoring as a team in the loss. Andres Gimenez had a pair of hits while Franmil Reyes, Bradley Zimmer and Amed Rosario each had a base hit as well to cap off Cleveland’s offense as a team in the defeat. Cal Quantrill took the loss, falling to 4-3 on the year after allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out six over six innings of work. Eli Morgan will start here and is 2-6 with a 5.98 ERA and 61 strikeouts this season.
The Boston Red Sox will look to build on their win over the Tribe from Friday. Kyle Schwarber and Hunter Renfroe each had a home run and three RBIs with Renfroe launching a solo shot while Schwarber had a solo home run and a double. Kevin Plawecki and Jonathan Arauz each had solo home runs to make up the rest of the scoring for Boston in the win. Jack Lopez, Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez each had base hits as well to cap off the offense for Boston in the win. Nathan Eovaldi allowed three runs on six hits while striking out nine over 6.1 innings of work, not factoring in the decision. Garrett Whitlock closed the final 1.1 innings for his 2nd save. Tanner Houck will start here and is 0-3 with a 3.63 ERA and 55 strikeouts this season.
Cleveland is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall and 6-2 in their last 8 games against a right-handed starter while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 Saturday games. Boston is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a win and 23-9 in their last 32 home games while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 games as a favorite.
This is really not a pitching matchup I’m all that into. With that said, I’m going to side with the Red Sox here. Houck has pitched a lot better than Eli Morgan, he just doesn’t have the wins in his record to reflect it. I’ve seen Morgan get torched more often than not this season and the Red Sox look like a team on a mission to climb into the playoffs. Give me Boston here.
