It’s not quite where the Boston Red Sox envisioned themselves at this point of the season. They were swept over the weekend by the White Sox extending their losing streak to a season-high five games with all the setbacks at Fenway Park. It’s been so bad for the Sox that they’ve fallen behind the Orioles into the basement of the division.
Boston will attempt to end its slide on Tuesday in the opener of a brief two-game interleague series with the defending champion Atlanta Braves. Boston’s Garrett Whitlock is scheduled to oppose Kyle Wright in a duel of right-handers with sub-2.00 ERAs.
Boston Red Sox vs Atlanta Braves
This interleague matchup takes place on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 7:20 p.m. ET from Truist Park in Atlanta. The game will air live on TBS with betting options for every game on the 2022 MLB schedule available at BookMaker.eu.
Boston Red Sox vs Atlanta Braves
MoneyLine: Boston Red Sox | Atlanta Braves (Check Back Later)
Over/Under: (Check Back Later)
Odds Analysis
The Sox were 6-5 at one point earlier in the season before things went south. Since beating Toronto on April 19, the Sox are a dismal 4-14 with a combination of poor pitching and bad offense contributing to the slide. They were stifled by the White Sox in Sunday’s 3-2 loss with the offense producing just five runs combined in the last four games of their current skid while getting outscored 28-10 over all five games. The Sox cashed the UNDER in their last three outings. Overall the UNDER is 18-8-3 while the Sox are down $939 on the moneyline. Outside of the woeful Reds, Boston is the worst bet in MLB.
With their offense the Sox should have better numbers and I expect them to improve. They are near the bottom in runs averaging just 3.28 per game while hitting .228 collectively. And we haven’t seen much power. Boston has just 16 home runs on the season good for 28th in MLB. Among the disappointments is Trevor Story, who has only three hits in seven games this month dropping his average to .194. Maybe a return to a NL park can spark his bat.
The Braves are hoping the return of Ronald Acuna Jr. can be the spark the team needs. Acuna homered for the first time since returning from knee surgery in Friday’s loss to Milwaukee. It took him a few games to get going but it looks like Acuna is in a groove now. He hit .200 with no homers and two RBIs in his first six games. Acuna homered again in Saturday’s win and hit .500 with three RBIs with the Braves taking two of three from the NL Central leading Brewers.
Pitching has been a weak spot for the Braves this season with the staff owning an ERA over 4.00. They have played some high scoring games this season and with Acuna heating up the offense should be much better. Atlanta cashed the OVER for the seventh time in 10 games with Sunday’s 9-2 win over the Brewers.
Probable Pitchers
With four starters on the IL and none of them expected back anytime soon, Garrett Whitlock (1-1, 1.25 ERA) is getting a crack in the rotation. He’ll be making his fourth start of the season after pitching in relief. The numbers are strong and it appears as though he’s getting the hang of this starting gig. He was perfect through 4.0 innings in his last start before tiring in the fifth allowing a couple of hits and runs. He had season-highs of 5.0 innings and 78 pitches. In his three previous starts Whitlock allowed just seven hits in 12.0 innings sporting a 1.50 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with 18 strikeouts.
Unfortunately the Sox haven’t backed their young righty with much support. They were shutout two starts ago and plated a pair of runs in Whitlock’s first start. He exited his last start with a 3-2 lead before the bullpen surrendered the tying run in the ninth and six runs in the 10th in a loss to the Angels.
Whatever Kyle Wright (3-1, 1.74 ERA) did this offseason it worked. He pitched in parts of the four previous seasons going 2-8 with a 6.56 ERA. You wouldn’t think the ace of the staff would emerge from those numbers, but Wright has been solid in all five starts. He did have his worst outing last time giving up three runs and nine hits and his first home run of the year. The Braves had won all four of his previous starts until the 3-0 loss to New York.
Wright hasn’t pitched more than 38 innings in any of his previous four seasons and he’s already at 31 innings this year completing 7.0 innings in each of his last two starts. He makes opponents work for runs allowing just one homer and seven walks. Wright made one start against Boston giving up two hits and two runs in 6.2 innings getting a ND in 2020.
Red Sox vs Braves Predictions
I do expect the Sox to break out of their slump, but it’s going to be tough against Wright. And Whitlock is getting stretched out to increase his innings. Both starters have been solid leading me to strongly back the UNDER. And while Boston will eventually win a game, it’s not happening on Tuesday.
Prediction: Atlanta Braves and UNDER
