Red Sox Remain Favorites For Rays Matchup Despite Recent Struggles

The Boston Red Sox will be looking to rebound from a disappointing series sweep at the hands of the archrival New York Yankees when they return to action on Monday night as -137 moneyline favorites against the Tampa Bay Rays at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

The Red Sox dropped to 3-8 in their last 11 outings with three straight losses to the Yankees, who now sit three games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in top spot in the American League East standings.

Boston sits four games back of the Yankees with a 12-13 record, one game back of the Rays, who are coming off a pair of consecutive losses to the Orioles this weekend.

The Rays picked up a pair of wins over Boston in their first meeting of the season two weeks ago. However, Tampa has struggled recently, going 2-4 in six games against the Orioles and the Yankees while scoring just 10 total runs. Not surprisingly, the run total has played under in each of the Rays’ last eight contests for totals bettors.

Conversely, the total has finished over in seven of Boston’s last 11 games. However, the Red Sox have averaged just 3.25 runs per game in their last four outings.

Despite each club’s struggles at the plate, the run total for Monday night’s Rays vs. Red Sox betting matchup at Fenway Park is pegged at 8.5 runs at the sportsbooks.

Clay Buchholz will get the nod for Boston on Monday. He is 1-3 on the season, and saw his ERA inflate to 5.76 after allowing four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings of work in an 11-8 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in his last start.

Jake Odorizzi is expected to be on the bump for the Rays. Odorizzi owns a 2-2 record and allowed just three hits and one earned run in 6 2/3 innings against the Red Sox last month, but failed to get the decision in the Rays’ 2-1 win.

The Red Sox next travel to Toronto for a three-game series with the Blue Jays starting Friday. Toronto has also struggled, failing to post back-to-back wins in almost two weeks, and dropped two to Boston at Fenway last week.

And early-season swoons have started to take their toll on both Boston and Toronto’s World Series betting futures. The Red Sox have slipped to 16-1 on the World Series odds after opening the season at 10-1, while the Blue Jays have dropped to 33-1 after climbing as high as 20-1 in the first two weeks of the season.

Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images