Who's ready for some weekend baseball? Without further ado, the Boston Red Sox will face off with the Arizona Diamondbacks on national television. Let's take an exclusive sneak peek at our MLB odds series where our Red Sox-Diamondbacks prediction and pick will be unveiled.
To begin, the Red Sox had themselves a party in the desert with a 7-2 defeat over the Diamondbacks in crushing fashion. Without. doubt, it was a feel-good story for 34-year-old Chris Sale who has battled with harsh injuries over the years and appears to finally be in good spirits health-wise. Following Sale's path en route to a solid outing will be Garrett Whitlock who is 1-2 with a lofty 6.19 ERA this season.
Entering play with back-to-back losses after winning four straight, the surprising Diamondbacks have so far impressed many en route to a 29-22 record and only sit 1.5 games back of first place in the NL West behind the terrorizing Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite losing two in a row, Arizona is hopeful that righty Zach Davies can get his first win of the season after he was activated off of the 15-day injured list with a nagging oblique ailment. –
Here are the Red Sox-Diamondbacks MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Red Sox-Diamondbacks Odds
Boston Red Sox: -1.5 (-128)
Arizona Diamondbacks: +1.5 (-154)
Over: 9.5 (+100)
Under: 9.5 (-122)
How To Watch Red Sox vs. Diamondbacks
TV: Fox
Stream: Fox App
Time: 7:15 ET/4:15 PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Red Sox Could Cover The Spread
While the Red Sox haven't been all that impressive in covering the spread and winning ballgames on the road so far, Boston at least has seemingly figured out their offense after a tough stretch that left them without answers.
Believe it or not, it was Boston that was outscored 20-4 during a four-game losing streak to the Padres and Angels before they went absolutely berserk for seven runs against the D-Backs. For an offense that ranks within the top five in most categories, Boston's dry spell was rather unusual, but the dam has finally been broken. The Red Sox excelled at capitalizing with runners in scoring position as they went 4-11 when given that opportunity. Above all else, Boston also had five players with multi-hit games. Alas, with another performance like this, then it will be hard-pressed to find a reason why the Red Sox don't come out on top in this one.
In addition, the Red Sox are hopeful that they can back their slugging third-baseman in Rafael Devers from the injured list. After missing the series opener due to some left calf tightness, a healthy Devers could do wonders for this Red Sox offense. When at full strength, there aren't many players around the league that can hit for contact and power as well as the 26-year-old Devers.
Why The Diamondbacks Could Cover The Spread
Despite winning nine of eleven games, the Diamondbacks' two-game losing streak was caused by a lack of effective consistency from the pitching mound. In fact, if we take a closer look, Arizona's arms were abused by the Phillies and Red Sox as the two teams combined for 13 runs on 25 hits combined. Clearly, for a crew that has struggled at times with their pitching, the Diamondbacks have to make sure that they snap out of their porous performances from the hill soon before it becomes a glaring issue.
However, a two-game sample isn't anything to be overly concerned about, as Arizona is confident that they can get back on track with a solid outing from Zach Davies. Although there is some slight concern that Davies may appear rather rusty since he hasn't pitched since April 8th, the 30-year-old is often cool, calm, and collected. Plus, Davies uses a finesse game that helps him paint the corners with terrific command and control. As long as he keeps the walks down to a minimum and doesn't give Boston hitters anything too good to hit, then he should put together a solid comeback outing.
Of course, the D-Backs do most of their damage at the plate with some of the best hitting statistics that baseball has to offer. Whether it's Ketel Marte reaching base for a career-high 25 games or Lourdes Gurriel seeing himself hit safely in 17 consecutive contests, there is plenty of offense to go around in the desert if you're Arizona. Certainly, a masterful pitching performance from the D-Backs will help greatly, but jumping out to an early lead thanks to the offense will surely put Arizona in good favor of covering the spread later this evening.
Final Red Sox-Diamondbacks Prediction & Pick
There isn't a whole lot of familiarity between these two teams reigning from different leagues, but betting on the Diamondbacks to have a bounce-back game where they are solid in all facets of the game would be a wise move.
Final Red Sox-Diamondbacks Prediction & Pick: Diamondbacks +1.5 (-154)
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