Boston Red Sox vs Oakland Athletics

The Boston Red Sox are a surprising 50-41 on the season. That just tells part of the story. Boston was a .500 tam earlier in the season, but are playing great baseball right now. They are not going to be in a good mood after losing to the hapless A's 5-2. Despite the loss, the Sox are 7-2 in their last 9 games overall. The post-game Red Sox locker room must have been silence. I think they are going to be a different team for this one. The Athletics win here last night is a fluke. Oakland is 4-25 in their last 29 road games, and they have not won two in a row in those 29 games. Make the play on Boston.

Last-place Oakland has one of the worst road records in the league (12-34), and they're 3,000 miles from home. They used four relievers in last night's 12-9 loss and start J.P. Sears, who has a 4.82 ERA on the road. The offense is 28th in runs scored, 27th in on-base percentage, and 20th in slugging. Boston is on a 17-6 run. The offense is 12th in runs scored, ninth in on-base percentage, and fifth in slugging. Nick Pivetta has 78 Ks in 68+ innings holding batters to a .236 average. The Red Sox bullpen is sixth in ERA (3.41) and fifth in WHIP, so back home field. Play Boston. 

The Boston Red Sox have floundered around the .500 mark all season until recently. The Sox are playing as well as any team in the league right now, as they have gone 13-5 in their last 18 games. Boston quickly devoured the Marlins in three straight before taking on the Yankees on the road. The Sox left New York on a high note, taking two of three. They now have another big opportunity to devour another poor team. The Oakland A's lost over 100 games a year ago, and progress has been slow as they enter this game on the road in Boston at 34-58 on the season. This is a much worse spot for Oakland, who has been somewhat respectable at home but has been getting destroyed on the road, where they are a woeful 12-33 on the season. Those numbers sound horrific, but the reality is they are even worse. Oakland is 3-24 in their last 27 road games, and I don't see a fix tonight vs. a surging Red Sox team. Make the play on Boston.

It doesn't take much to go against the Oakland Athletics, who are 1-5 and have been disastrous defensively and in just about every other department. They lost 5-4 in 10 innings to Boston on Tuesday, although there was a silver lining as the bullpen did a good job keeping the game close this time. Now Oakland is up against Nick Pivetta, who is 3-0 when starting against the A's with a 0.41 ERA and a 0.59 WHIP. Ross Stripling has a 4.68 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 11 starts against the Red Sox, who have won six of the past eight meetings. Oakland is 32-88 against right-handed starters the past two seasons and 15-53 overall in day games. Also, the Athletics are 5-25 in April. Take the Red Sox as a Max Play. 

Boston is off to a 3-2 start and it shut out the Athletics 9-0 on Monday. Oakland made it easy for the Red Sox by committing six errors and striking out 13 times. Boston has been getting good pitching as it has allowed a total of only 10 runs in five games and Brayan Bello will start tonight. Bello pitched five innings against Seattle on Thursday and gave up two runs on five hits and got the win. Not surprisingly Oakland is 1-4 and it has allowed 38 runs in five games and look very much like last year's 100-plus loss team. Alex Wood will start for the Athletics and he allowed six runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings against Cleveland on Thursday. Oakland is 32-87 versus right-handed starters the past two seasons and 10-30 its past 40 games as a home underdog of +125 to +175. Take the Red Sox as a Max Play.