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Astros vs. Red Sox, 7:10 ET
I was only able to split the night last night as I had two unders as plays and one cashed while the other only went slightly over the total. By slightly, I mean the total was 9.5 and the game ended up with 10 runs. It happens, but splitting plays has been a common occurrence this year. Luckily, we’ve grabbed a solid number of plus money wins and more 2-0 days than 0-2 days this year. Let’s look to get a win today in the game between the Astros and Red Sox.
Who saw this coming? The Astros had spent all season chasing down the Rangers, and now they are sitting in third place. It isn’t a disaster as they are just a game back of the new division-leading Seattle Mariners. The Mariners have been one of the hottest teams in baseball this month and are currently 9-1 in their last ten games. The Astros on the other hand are just 5-5 and need to take this series down to kind of crush the Red Sox’s playoff hopes. I would’ve thought that the AL East would send three teams to the playoffs, but if the season ended today, the AL West would have the most representatives. The Astros look to maintain their hold on the Wild Card as they send out J.P. France to the mound. Overall, he has pretty nice stats, highlighted by a 3.51 ERA. France did have the worst start of his season in his last outing, and guess who it was against… the Boston Red Sox. In that start, he went 2.1 innings and allowed 10 earned runs on 11 hits. The Red Sox were just knocking him around like crazy. He ended up throwing 81 pitches in that short start. A loss is a loss no matter if you lose by one run or by 16. But, that was an ugly game. He has done a nice job on the road as he has a 1.92 ERA in nine outings that covered 51.2 innings.
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The Red Sox have clawed their way back into this race but still have a lot of work to do. I actually thought that they would be the worst team in the AL East this year, but the Yankees seem to have taken care of that. They are just a few games behind the Blue Jays and 5.5 back of the Astros for the final Wild Card spot. They really need to focus on these games to help with that playoff push. They were destroyed in the series opener 13-5, and now need to take the next two games to steal the series. I’m happy that they get Brayan Bello to lead the charge because he’s probably my favorite pitcher on their roster. Bello has been reliable this season with a 3.56 ERA and that goes down slightly in home starts. He has a 2.63 ERA in night games so that also bodes well for the Red Sox. He was the opposing pitcher in the aforementioned massacre of the Astros when France pitched last. Bellow went seven innings and allowed nine hits, and one earned run in that game. I don’t expect the same level of success for him, but I suppose it is possible as he has allowed just one earned run in three of his past four starts.
I’m taking the Red Sox in this game. I like Bello more than I like France. I do think both are capable of putting together solid performances and France needs to get some revenge, but Bello is throwing the ball really well this season and even right now. The lines are interesting in a way because the Red Sox are -140 on the moneyline through five but -122 for the full game. I’ll play the full game but that would indicate to me that the thought might be the bullpen could blow the game. I don’t think it should be an issue and will play the Red Sox -122.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter:Â @futureprez2024
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