The Boston Red Sox visit Minute Maid Park on Thursday night to take on the defending world champion Houston Astros. The game starts at 7:10 pm central. This will be a clash of two first place teams, as Boston is 2 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East division. Houston is in first in the American League West, 1 game ahead of Seattle with their 35-22.
Drew Pomeranz will take the mound for the Red Sox. Pomeranz is 1-2 so far this season, and owns a 6.75 ERA. Pomeranz would like to even his record on an otherwise relatively successful pricing staff. For the Astros, Lance McCullers Jr. is pitching. He has 6 wins and 3 losses, with a 3.98 ERA. While playing on a good hitting team may have helped his record, he has still pitched well this year. Houston is favored in this game: at -200.
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Boston Red Sox
Boston has definitely been one of the elite teams to watch this season. Mookie Betts has been a big part of this success. Betts is batting .359 so far this season, while driving in 37 runs. Against McCullers, he has impressed: hitting .444 after having faced him 9 times. Look for Betts, who gets on base nearly 44% of the time, to be a huge factor in this game.
J.D. Martinez has been huge for the Red Sox as well. Martinez is hitting .322, has driven in 47 runs, and has slugged 18 home runs. He hits for such tremendous power and average, pitchers have a hard time figuring out how to pitch to him. He has also walked 19 times, but has also shown a need to improve his plate discipline by striking out 56 times. If McCullers can get his off speed pitches working, he may be able to get Martinez to chase. However, Martinez’s stats don’t lie: he is a dangerous hitter.
Houston Astros
Unsurprisingly, Jose Altuve has been carrying a lot of the load offensively for Houston. He is batting .335 so far this season, and has driven in 29 runs. He will definitely be a player to watch in this game. George Springer is also going to be important in this one. He is batting .284, with 34 RBIs. He has also hit 11 home runs.
A big deciding factor in this game will be whether McCullers is able to get ahead in the count against the powerful Boston lineup. If he brings his best stuff, the edge would go to Houston. Pomeranz, however, hasn’t been great this season so, theoretically, Houston should have no problem hitting him.
Astros Top Red Sox
It would be hard to bet against the Red Sox if Chris Sale or David Price was pitching. However, Pomeranz hasn’t impressed many people, and it’s tough to think that he could easily handle the dangerous. Astros lineup. Take the favored Houston Astros at -200.
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- Bet on the Boston Red Sox +170
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