The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians meet in MLB action from Progressive Field on Friday night.
The Boston Red Sox come into this one off their series sweep against the Detroit Tigers following a 6-2 win in their series finale last time out. Xander Bogaerts has 85 hits, a .335 batting average and 20 doubles while Rafael Devers has 90 hits with 24 doubles and Enrique Hernandez also has 16 doubles. Alex Verdugo has 4 home runs and 35 RBIs while Devers has a team-high 16 home runs and 43 RBIs and Hernandez also has 24 RBIs. J.D. Martinez also has 23 doubles, a .326 batting average and 30 RBIs this year and Trevor Story has a team-high 48 RBIs as well for Boston. Nick Pivetta will start this one and is 7-5 with a 3.31 ERA and 82 strikeouts this season.
The Cleveland Guardians will look to rebound after finishing their series against the Minnesota Twins with a 1-0 loss in their last outing. Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 72 hits, 16 home runs and 62 RBIs along with a .301 batting average while Owen Miller has a .257 batting average with 19 doubles as well this season. Ramirez also has 21 doubles and Steven Kwan has 52 hits with 7 doubles as well as a .283 batting average this season. Ramirez has 4 triples while Amed Rosario also has 4 triples as well on the year. Cal Quantrill will get the start here and is 4-4 with a 3.77 ERA and 44 strikeouts this season.
Boston is 6-0 in their last 6 games after an off day and 4-0 in their last 4 games against the AL Central while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record. Cleveland is 7-0 in their last 7 series-opening games and 6-0 in their last 6 games following a loss while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 games against the AL East.
I get the reasoning for backing either side in this one, but truthfully, my focus is on the over here. Nick Pivetta’s been pitching better, but the Guardians still have a solid lineup that I think will come alive after being shut down on Thursday. On the other side, Cal Quantrill has a lot of upside, but he’s going against a hot-hitting Boston lineup and I just see this as a game that hits 10 runs at the minimum. Give me the over here.