Tampa Bay Rays (87-51) vs. Boston Red Sox (79-61)
September 7, 2021 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Boston Red Sox -110 / Tampa Bay Rays -110; Over/Under: 9
(Get latest betting odds)
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox meet in an AL East division matchup in MLB action from Fenway Park on Tuesday night.
The Tampa Bay Rays will be looking to build on a thrilling 11-10 extra innings win over Boston from Monday night. Nelson Cruz led the charge with three RBIs and three hits including a solo home run while Austin Meadows added a solo home run as well. Brandon Lowe, Jordan Luplow and Randy Arozarena each had RBIs as well for the Rays while Wander Franco had four hits with a triple and Yandy Diaz added a trio of hits as well. Manuel Margot, Mike Zunino and Taylor Walls each had hits as well to make up the offense for the Rays in the victory. Ryan Yarbrough allowed seven runs on eight hits in two innings in the start but it was Collin McHugh that got the win to improve to 6-1 on the year. Drew Rasmussen will start here and is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 63 strikeouts this season.
The Boston Red Sox will try to rebound from a crushing loss to the Rays in Monday’s affair. Hunter Renfroe and Bobby Dalbec each had two RBIs with a double while Jonathan Arauz had a solo home run. Taylor Motter went 2 for 5 with a triple, a double and an RBI while Jose Iglesias, J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers and Alex Verdugo all had RBIs to cap off Boston’s scoring as a team in the loss. Travis Shaw added a double as well and Kyle Schwarber had a base knock as well to round out the offense for the BoSox in the defeat. Chris Sale gave up five runs, one earned, on ten hits with six K’s in 3.2 innings in the start, but it was Garrett Whitlock who took the loss to fall to 7-3 on the year. Eduardo Rodriguez will start here and is 11-7 with a 4.88 ERA and 156 strikeouts this season.
Tampa Bay is 18-5 in their last 23 road games and 51-16 in their last 67 games following a win while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a left-handed starter. Boston is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall and 9-4 in their last 13 home games while the over is 8-1 in their last 9 home games.
I get why you’d make the Red Sox a tempting matchup here, but the truth of the matter is that E-Rod has been batted around by opposing teams all season long and Tampa Bay has all of the momentum after rallying from their massive deficit on Monday to take the game in extra innings. That could be a turning point if the Red Sox don’t end up making the playoffs. I think that momentum’s going to carry over to another Tampa Bay win here.
