No Hassles, No Hype Sports Picks

Our sports picks in the NBA continued hot with a win on Phoenix last night and of course our inter-league play in MLB did not disappoint. The most intriguing match-up on a short board today is the Boston at Tampa Bay game. No question the Red Sox are off to a slower than expected start and trail the hot Tampa Bay Rays by 8.5 games in the American League East. A couple things to note on Boston and their slow start, first off their pitching had been down to start the season with the starting rotation Josh Beckett ERA of 7.29, Clay Buchholz 3.26, Jon Lester 3.47 and John Lackey’s 5.07 a combined ERA of 4.69. Couple the pitching with early season batting slumps by Ortiz and that explains the slow start. The good news for Boston is Ortiz is out of his slump and they got Ellsbury off the DL. Add Daisuke Matsuzaka to the pitching rotation, also coming off the DL and things only look brighter for Boston who enters tonight’s match-up winning two of three against Philadelphia. In that series Dice-K threw a full eight innings and allowed just one hit. That’s the good news for Boston as Tampa Bay has had plenty of success against Boston recently and swept Boston 4 – 0 in Boston earlier this year in April. Clay Buchholz heads to the mound tonight and has five career starts against Tampa Bay allowing runs of 4, 1, 3, 1 and 2 over 31.1 innings. Countering for Tampa Bay will be Wade Davis who is 4 – 3 overall with an ERA of 3.35. Davis does not have a lot of experience against Boston but went 5 innings against then on April 16th allowing just one earned run on two hits.

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Sport betting information

Opening Line: Tamp Bay -130 Boston +110 Total is set at: 9

The Red Sox are 9-23 in their L32 games when listed as the underdog

The Red Sox are 7-0 in Buchholzs L7 starts on the road

The Red Sox are 9-3 in Buchholzs L12 starts when he has 4 days of rest

The Red Sox are 2-8 in Buchholzs L10 road starts when facing a team with a winning record

The Rays are 10-2 in their L12 games when favored within this price range

The Rays are 23-6 in their L29 against the American League East.

The Rays are 23-9 in their L32 games when facing a right-handed starter.

The Under is 8-0 in Rays L8 games when listed as the home favorite.

The Under is 5-0 in Rays L5 gmes at home when facing a right-handed starter.

Head-to-Head

The Over is 3-0-1 in the L4 games played in Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox are 6-17 in their L23 trips to Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox are 0-4 in the L4 meetings overall.

Umpire Information

No trends available.