Boston Red Sox vs. Houston Astros: Odds, Preview, & Prediction | Monday, May 16th
Boston Red Sox vs. Houston Astros Preview: Red Sox have value at home
The Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox will begin their series tonight at Fenway Park. Neither the Red Sox nor Astros offenses have lived up to their expectations with the talent that they have. However, the Houston Astros sit atop the American League and Boston is two games out of last place. A major problem for Boston has been Houston's biggest strength: effective bullpen pitching. Boston has struggled to find pitchers to thrive in big situations and that has hurt them badly. The Red Sox have lost seven one-run games and five extra innings games so far this season, which highlights the bullpen struggles.
Below, you will find a brief preview of each team followed by a prediction for the game.
Houston Astros Preview:
The Houston Astros have been one of MLB's hottest teams. Winners of 12 out of their last 13 ballgames, Houston has been led by stellar pitching. In those 12 wins, Astros pitching has allowed three runs or less in every game. The pitching staff ranks third in the league in ERA, while the offense has struggled. The Astros offense hasn't performed as well as the last couple of years, but the pitching has led the way in their 23-12 start.
Jake Odorizzi will take the mound for Houston tonight coming off of back-to-back scoreless starts. Odorizzi struggled in his first four starts, but has seemed to figure something out recently. His 3.38 ERA isn't very impressive, but that reflects on how poorly he pitched at the start of the season. The Astros will look to get production from Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Yordan Alvarez against Boston pitching tonight. The major key to victory for Houston is to get into the Red Sox bullpen early.
Series win!
Final: #Astros 8, Nationals 0 https://t.co/9pOi0ctwbZ
"Series win" - @ Houston Astros
The Red Sox bullpen has been terrible this season, and that is an aspect of the game the Astros can take advantage of.
Boston Red Sox Preview:
Back at Fenway Park tonight. https://t.co/nJdXtjmHOJ
"Back at Fenway Park tonight." - @ Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox offense has started to perform much better. Xander Bogaerts, Rafeal Devers, and J.D. Martinez have led the way for Boston this season. The Red Sox's starting pitching has been pretty good this season.
Garrett Whitlock will take the mound for Boston. Whitlock has been both a bullpen and starting pitcher so far, but Boston is looking to keep him in the starting rotation. Through four starts and four relief outings, Whitlock has a 2.19 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP (walks/hits per inning pitched). Whitlock hasn't shown a great ability to pitch deep into games, but faces a good matchup in the 19th ranked offense in the MLB. The key to victory for Boston tonight is a quality start from Whitlock and timely offensive production out of their stars.
Pick/Prediction: Boston Red Sox F5 -0.5 (-110)
Although the Astros are the hotter team, the starting pitching matchup favors the Red Sox. Garrett Whitlock has been far more consistent than Jake Odorizzi, so we're going to take the bullpen out of it and take the Boston Red Sox to lead after five innings. Let's go Red Sox!