We had a feeling the AL East was going to be one of if not the toughest division in baseball. And through the first three months of the 2022 season it hasn’t disappointed. Four teams enter the week in a playoff spot with the Yankees well ahead of the pack. That leaves the remaining clubs to fight for the scraps with inter-division games being that much more important.
While they haven’t had a lot of success on the road, the Tampa Bay Rays took the final three games of a five-game set in Toronto over the weekend and continue a stretch within the division against the Boston Red Sox with Tuesday’s tilt the middle of three-game set. The Sox enter the series a game ahead of Tampa in the wild card race with Toronto stuck between them.
Rays at Red Sox Date & Time
This AL East matchup takes place on Tuesday, July 5, 2022 at 7:10 p.m. ET from Fenway Park. The game will air live on TBS with betting options for every game on the 2022 MLB schedule available at BookMaker.eu.
Rays vs Red Sox Odds
Tampa Bay Rays (Check Back Later)
Boston Red Sox (Check Back Later)
Total (Check Back Later)
Season So Far…
It’s been tough going for the Rays offensively this season, but they showed signs of coming alive in the last three games in Toronto scoring 24 runs. They totaled 23 runs in the previous seven games going 3-4 in that span. They put together their biggest inning of the season on Sunday scoring six times in their 7-3 victory cashing the OVER for a fourth straight game and for the ninth time in the last 12. Prior to winning the last three over the Jays, Tampa was 2-9 in its previous 11 road games.
Despite being a small market team competing in the same division against storied franchises like New York and Boston, who also spend a heck of a lot more money, the Rays have more than held their own over the past several years. They won 11 of the last 15 games during last season’s series and took two of three when the teams met in Tampa in April. The Rays won the series in each of the three previous seasons going 30-18 in that span.
The Sox had a great month of June winning 77 percent of their games going from four games under .500 to 10 games over. Still, they lost ground to New York in the standings giving you an idea of how good the Yankees have been. With a four-game series against the Bombers coming up after this one it would be easy for the Sox to look ahead. They may have been looking at this series while in Chicago and stumbled losing the first two games to the Cubs. They avoided the sweep with a 4-2 win in 10 innings on Sunday.
The offense is good boasting a .260 team batting average to rank second in MLB while averaging 4.73 runs per game. And without two of their top arms the pitching has been great with a 3.62 staff ERA and 1.21 WHIP. The combination has led to the Sox going 44-35 overall for the third best record in the AL entering the week.
Probable Pitchers
It was a long weekend for the Rays with five games in four days in Toronto. The pitching staff got a good workout and there’s no time to relax. At least one pitcher got some down time with likely starter Jeffrey Springs (3-2, 2.25 ERA) granted permission to leave the team for a family emergency. Springs spent the 2020 season in Boston and he wasn’t very good, which is probably why he was traded to Tampa.
But the Rays have a way of resurrecting careers and Springs is one of the latest. In three seasons before joining the club he had a 5.43 ERA and 1.70 WHIP over 84.2 innings. He’s been good in his dual role allowing only one run in 13 innings before joining the rotation. He makes his first start against the Sox looking to regroup after a couple of bad outings. He allowed 14 hits and seven runs over 10.1 innings, but the Rays won both games and they are 7-1 in his last eight starts.
Boston’s probable Nick Pivetta (8-5, 3.23 ERA) has also produced a lot of wins. Following a tough April where he and the team struggled, Pivetta picked things up in May and hasn’t stopped. He’s 8-1 with a 1.95 ERA and 0.92 WHIP over 74 innings of his last 11 starts. The Sox won his last four starts and they are 9-1 in his past 10 starts with the OVER 7-3. Pivetta blanked the Rays on three hits in four innings of relief in Game 3 of the ALDS and has not allowed a run to them giving up just five hits across nine innings at Fenway Park.
Rays vs Red Sox Predictions
For the most part the Rays have struggled on offense and facing a guy like Pivetta isn’t going to help them continue raking the ball like they did over the last three games in Toronto. And besides, that stretch followed by a trip to Boston is demanding. The staff got plenty of work and arms behind Springs are exhausted giving the edge to the Sox.
Prediction: Boston Red Sox / UNDER
