Cleveland Indians (67-66) vs. Boston Red Sox (79-59)
September 5, 2021 1:10 pm EDT
The Line: Boston Red Sox -172 / Cleveland Indians +145; Over/Under: 9.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox meet in MLB action from Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Cleveland Indians will look to rebound from a 4-3 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday. Franmil Reyes had a two-run home run while Bobby Bradley had a double with an RBI to make up the scoring for Cleveland in the defeat. Ryan Lavarnway and Andres Gimenez each had a double while Jose Ramirez and Harold Ramirez each had a base hit to finish off Cleveland’s offense as a team in the loss. Eli Morgan threw 5.2 shutout innings, giving up just three hits while striking out seven, not factoring in the decision. Bryan Shaw took the loss, falling to 6-7 on the year. Zach Plesac will start here and is 9-4 with a 4.49 ERA and 80 strikeouts this season.
The Boston Red Sox will try to build off of their win over the Tribe from Saturday. Rafael Devers had a three-run home run while Alex Verdugo had a double and an RBI to cap off the scoring for the Red Sox in the win. Christian Vazquez had two hits while Kyle Schwarber added a double and Travis Shaw added a base hit as well to round out Boston’s offense as a team in the winning effort. Tanner Houck threw five innings of three-hit shutout ball with seven K’s in the start, not factoring in the decision. Adam Ottavino got the win in relief to improve to 5-3 on the year. Nick Pivetta will start here and is 9-7 with a 4.67 ERA and 161 strikeouts this season.
Cleveland is 10-25 in their last 35 games against a team with a winning record and 4-0 in their last 4 Sunday games while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 game three matchups. Boston is 27-10 in their last 37 games as a home favorite and 4-1 in their last 5 games as a favorite while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 home games.
I get why you would back Boston at home here, but truth be told I am just not a Nick Pivetta guy. He started the year solid and we made a killing with him, but he’s regressed a fair bit since then. Cleveland needs the win just as bad as Boston does, maybe even more so as they’re on the outside looking in right now. Either way, I think the value is with Cleveland on Sunday.
