The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will conclude their four-game series on Thursday. First pitch from Tropicana Field is at 1:10 p.m. ET. The Rays are -150 moneyline favorites and the game total is 7.5 runs scored.
Boston (5-6 SU and 5-6 RL) dropped the first two games of the series after sweeping its previous series versus Detroit. The Red Sox will start Corey Kluber in Thursday's finale. The veteran righty is 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA and 1.68 WHIP this season.
Tampa Bay (11-0 SU and 10-1 RL) is off to one of the hottest starts in MLB history. The Rays will look to continue rolling with Jeffrey Springs on the mound. The 30-year-old left-hander is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.54 WHIP in 2023.
Boston has been feast or famine, relying on its high-powered offense to win games while its pitching staff limps through the game. It's provided some excitement and a lot of totals to go over — the over is 7-4 in Red Sox games this year — but following Adam Duvall's injury, some of the air has come out of the balloon. The outfielder was raking, hitting .455 with a 1.154 OPS, including four long balls and 14 ribbies. While he won't require surgery, he'll still miss several weeks of action.
Boston scores 5.55 runs per game (8th) and hits .240 (19th) with a .744 OPS (14th). The Sox are tenth in home runs (15) and 24th in stolen bases (4). The pitching staff has compiled a 4.73 ERA (17th) and a 1.41 WHIP (19th) with zero quality starts.
Slip 'N Slider pic.twitter.com/LNFwixIwVy
— Red Sox (@RedSox) Apr il 11, 2023
The 37-year-old Kluber takes the mound on Thursday. His Red Sox tenure got off to a rocky start (five earned runs on six hits in 3.1 innings vs. Baltimore) but he was much more competitive in his most recent start at home against Pittsburgh, tossing five innings of three-hit baseball, surrendering one run.