Philadelphia Phillies vs. Boston Red Sox Game 1 – 9/8/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies meet Tuesday in MLB action from Citizens Bank Park. 

This will be the first game of a Tuesday doubleheader. The Red Sox are coming off a long five-game series versus the Blue Jays, splitting the first four before losing the set on Sunday with a 10-8 defeat. As for the Phillies, they played the Mets over the weekend. Philadelphia lost two of the first three games in that series, and on Monday in the finale the Phillies scored twice in the ninth and hung on for a 9-8 win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

The Red Sox have gotten some pretty nice offensive performances here and there this season. Rafael Devers is hitting .257 with 20 runs, 36 hits, six homers and 22 RBI. Alex Verdugo has a .315 BA with a team-high 26 runs and 13 doubles. Xander Bogaerts has hit eight homers with 23 RBI, 21 runs and a .291 average. 

For the Tuesday game one start, the Red Sox are sending out Martin Perez. This season over eight starts, Perez is 2-4 with a 4.07 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 42.0 innings. In his MLB career, Perez is 55-60 with a 4.69 ERA and 626 Ks in 968.2 innings. 

Over on the Phillies’ side, they jumped out to a 6-0 lead at one point during the Monday win, but had to tough out a win after coughing up seven runs in a span of three innings. Jean Segura was the big hitter for Philly in that one, going 4-for-5 with a homer, two runs and five RBI. Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler went 6.0 innings with three earned and seven strikeouts. 

For Tuesday’s starting pitcher role, the Phillies will go with Zach Eflin. In his six starts this season, Eflin is 2-1 with a 4.45 ERA and 42 Ks in 32.1 innings. On his career, Eflin is 27-32 with a 4.71 ERA and 360 Ks in 451.1 innings. 

The Red Sox are 68-32 in their last 100 interleague games and 5-11 in their last 16 road games. Boston is 15-36 in their last 51 games as an underdog and 2-6 in their last eight overall.  

Meanwhile, the Phillies are 8-0 in the last eight games as a favorite and 4-0 in their last four home games. Philly is 8-2 in their last 10 games following a win and 4-0 in their last four during game one of a series. 

Pick: I’m leaning Red Sox here. Boston is coming in rested after a day off Monday, and overall they played reasonably well versus the Blue Jays over the weekend. The key is going to be pitching obviously, and Perez is one of the better chances these days for the Sox to get a nice start. Perez went 6.2 innings in his last start (carrying a no-hitter through six), with three hits and one run. I like him to have another nice outing here and put Boston in position to grab a game one win.