The AL East is just as competitive as expected, and this series is no exception. It's the only division where every team has at least 60 wins, and they're all in the playoff hunt. The Rays still have an outside shot at the division title, while the Red Sox are focused on a wildcard spot. While those remain a close battle, the Rays have owned the season series between these teams. However, it also took them until the 11th hour to name a starter for this game. There's plenty of familiarity between these teams, so let's break down the best way to attack this series opener. Along wit h this same game parlay, be sure to check out our MLB picks for all of today's games.
Red Sox ML (-130)
Over 7.5 total runs (-170)
Xander Bogaerts 2+ total bases (+110)
Parlay odds: +380
Let's take a closer look at each leg of our same game parlay.
Boston Red Sox ML (-130) over Tampa Bay Rays
Despite the Rays having gotten the better of the Sox so far this season, Boston can get this weekend series off with a win. This is a crucial series for them as Tampa is one of the teams ahead of them in the AL wildcard race. There's also one key component to this matchup that the Sox had been missing for the majority of meetings with the Rays. Starter Michael Wacha will be on the mound to take on his former team. He's been back for 2 starts since being on the injured list, both of which were wins against other AL East opponents.
After taking down the O's and Yankees, he's now 8-1 on the year with a 2.28 ERA. He also helped the Sox take down the Rays earlier in the year. There's even more reason to believe he can repeat that performance tonight. Kike Hernandez has recently returned for Boston, who was a contributor in that game. On the flip side, the Rays needed 2 home runs from Wander Franco in that matchup just to score 3 runs. He's been out for quite some time and even just suffered a setback in his rehab. Even Brandon Lowe has been in and out of the lineup recently. He wasn't in it yesterday when the Rays wrapped up their series with the Angels. With them having to travel up to Boston for this series, the Sox can steal the opener behind Wacha.'