The Seattle Mariners will be the baseball betting favorites when they receive the Boston Red Sox tonight at Safeco Field. Here are both teams’ odds for people who bet on MLB:
Red Sox +1½ (-185) 8½ (-110) +108
Mariners -1½ (+160) 8½ (-110) -118
The Mariners squandered a six-run lead yesterday and lost 7-6 to the Chicago Cubs in extra innings. By his own admission, Seattle closer Steve Cishek “was terrible tonight. I had a hard time commanding my fastball, the slider was about the same and it got exposed.” The Cubs tied the game in the ninth inning with three runs off Cishek. On the other hand, the Red Sox defeated the Angels of Anaheim 5-3. Boston came back from a three-run deficit with consecutive home runs by Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts. That was Boston’s third W in the past 10 games. The Red Sox and the Mariners will open the month of August with a four-game set after going 15-9 and 12-12 in July, respectively – the second and final series between these two teams. For baseball betting fans keeping track, the last time they met, Boston won two out of three games.
Left-handed pitcher James Paxton (3-5, 4.27 ERA) will start for Seattle. Paxton has thrown a high-90s fastball in 11 starts since being called up back in June. Number 65 threw eight scoreless innings with five hits versus the Red Sox at home last year. Meanwhile, Eduardo Rodriguez (2-4, 6.51 ERA) will take the mound for the Red Sox. The leftie has given up three runs or less in each of his previous starts, but has surrendered a home run in each of his last eight. E-Rod has not been able to achieve consecutive quality starts, but he has come back from Triple-A Pawtucket a changed pitcher, and the change has been for the better. The 23 year old is 1-1 with a 3.06 ERA in three starts since returning to the Majors. “He’s rectified some of the mannerisms on the mound. His slider has become more of a defined pitch,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Rodriguez. “There’s a guy that walks to the mound more confident and can give hitters different looks.” Like Blue Steel? This will be the first time that the Rodriguez starts versus the Mariners. He is 1-1 in three starts against teams in the American League West.
Additionally, Boston is likely to activate Craig Kimbrel before the game. The All Star closer underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee three weeks ago. Also, this will be David Ortiz’s last visit to Safeco Field, where he has hit 298 with 16 home runs, 41 RBIs and a .974 OPS. Both the Mariners and the Red Sox are third in their respective leagues; Seattle (52-51) is 8½ games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West, while Boston (57-46) is 1½ games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. Baseball betting fans will find out who improves their record tonight at 10:10 pm ET.
