The Red Sox face the Pirates in Pittsburgh! Our MLB odds series has our Red Sox Pirates prediction, odds, and pick for Saturday.

The Red Sox have been solid to start the year at 10-10, but are just 2-3 in their last five games. They are also in one of the toughest divisions in the MLB in the AL East. Statistically, the Red Sox offense needs to get going more and has started slowly, ranking near the bottom of the MLB. Tyler O'Neill, Triston Casas, Jarren Duran, and Masataka Yoshida are players to watch for the Red Sox behind the plate, despite the slow start. In comparison, their pitching has been red-hot up to this point, and is the best staff in the MLB when it comes to team ERA. Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, and Garrett Whitlock have made up a very good pitching staff with all five being at least solid to very good. The Red Sox have potential this season and have shown flashes up to this point of what they can be and a game like this will be important in continuing their trajectory.

The Pirates have also started the season playing well at 11-8, making this an interesting matchup. They have been middle of the pack with their bats and on the mound with their pitching. Bryan Reynolds, Ke'Bryan Hayes, and Edward Olivares have been solid behind the plate despite the offense as a whole not being as good as it could be. Martin Perez, Mitch Keller, and Jared Jones have been solid for the pitching staff, despite it being average at best. The Pirates have been solid up to this point and this game will be an interesting test for them based on the talent the Red Sox have, especially on the mound.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Red Sox-Pirates Odds

Boston Red Sox: +1.5 (-200)

Moneyline: +104

Pittsburgh Pirates: -1.5 (+164)

Moneyline: -122

Over: 8 (-110)

Under: 8 (-110)

How to Watch Red Sox vs. Pirates

Time: 4:05 pm ET

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh / NESN

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Red Sox Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Red Sox are going with Kutter Crawford to start on the mound. He's started out the year with an 0-0 record, a 0.42 ERA, and a 0.80 WHIP. Through 21.1 innings, he has allowed nine hits, two runs, and eight walks, while also having 24 strikeouts. The Red Sox are 1-3 in his four total starts. In his last appearance, he pitched 5.2 innings and allowed two hits compared to six strikeouts. Last season, Crawford was okay at best with a 6-8 record, a 4.04 ERA, and a 1.11 WHIP. Crawford has started the season playing well and they are going to need him to continue his hot streak against the Pirates.

The Red Sox's offense has been slow to start the season. They are 24th in team batting average at .224 after finishing last season with a .258 batting average. The offense is led by Tyler O'Neill, Triston Casas, and Jarren Duran in most of the offensive categories behind the plate. However, O'Neill is injured with a concussion. Despite his injury, O'Neill leads the team in batting average at .313, in home runs at seven, and in OBP at .459. Casas leads the team in RBI at nine, while Duran leads in total hits at 25. The Red Sox offense has a chance to rebound against a Pirates team that has not been anything special on the mound.

Why The Pirates Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Pirates are putting Mitch Keller on the mound in this game and he has a 2-1 record, a 4.50 ERA, and a 1.46 WHIP. Through 24 innings, Keller has allowed 28 hits, 14 runs, and seven walks. He also has 21 strikeouts on the year. The Pirates are 3-1 in the four games games that he's appeared in this season. In his last start, he threw seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with zero walks and four strikeouts. Last season, Keller was decent and had a 13-9 record, a 4.21 ERA, and 1.25 WHIP. Keller needs to show up for the Pirates in this spot with the Red Sox being slow out of the gate on offense.

The offense for the Pirates has been average this season. They are tied for 15th in the MLB in team batting average at .244 after having a team batting average of .239 last season where they finished 24th in comparison. Ke'Bryan Hayes, Edward Olivares, and Bryan Reynolds are the leaders in every offensive category. Hayes leads the way in batting average at .277 and in OBP at .392. Reynolds then leads in RBI at 13 and in total hits at 20. Finally, Olivares is tied for the lead in home runs at three with Oneil Cruz. This will be a very difficult matchup against a red-hot Red Sox pitching staff.

Final Red Sox-Pirates Prediction & Pick

The Red Sox pitching has given everyone a reason to believe in them this season. That's not stopping in this game with how well Kutter Crawford has played out of the gate. The offense is a work in progress, but the Pirates are going with their ace in Mitch Keller and he is inconsistent at times despite his value at the top of the lineup. The Pirates are also average on offense themselves. This is going to be a very low-scoring game, but back the Red Sox to keep it close and cover, even though the Pirates should win at home.

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Final Red Sox-Pirates Prediction & Pick: Red Sox +1.5 (-200)