Red Sox Rake The Reds In Cincy Tuesday
Neither the Boston Red Sox (71-75) nor the Cincinnati Reds (58-89) have much to play for when they start an interleague back-to-back at Great American Ballpark Tuesday.
Boston is 17 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East and 10 games out of the final AL wild card seed. Cincy is 28.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central and eliminated from playoff contention.
But, take the BOSTON RED SOX (-120) at DraftKings Sportsbook because they are red-hot at the plate this month. Also, sharp action has pushed Boston from a slight road 'dog to a slight favorite.
Betting Deets (DraftKings)
Red Sox Mashin' At The Dish In September
Boston's lineup is sixth in wRC+ (118), third in wOBA (.340), third in BB/K rate (0.49) and fourth in hard-hit rate (43.1%), according to FanGraphs. The Red Sox crush left-handed pitching and the Reds start LHP Nick Lodolo (4-6, 3.81 ERA).
They score 5.33 runs per nine vs. left-handed pitching with the ninth-best wRC+ (113) and eighth-best wOBA (.332), per FanGraphs. The Red Sox are 6-2 straight up (SU) as road favorites vs. left-handed starters with a +27.7% return on investment and a +1.38 margin of victory (6.00-4.62).
Boston Taking 'Sharp' Money & Have A Pitching Edge
Per Pregame.com, BoSox opened as +100 underdogs but quickly became slight favorites once the early MLB bettors got to their local sportsbooks. Boston is 16-11 SU as road favorites this season and 9-6 SU following a rest day.
Red Sox starting RHP Brayan Bello's (1-6, 5.10 ERA) basic pitching numbers are misleading. Bello's FIP ("Fielding Independent Pitching") is nearly half of his ERA (2.76 FIP), per FanGraphs.
Finally, Cincy's bullpen is garbage. The Reds relievers have the second-worst FIP (4.42), third-worst WHIP (1.42) and the fourth-worst K/BB rate (2.14).
Go to DraftKings Sportsbook and BET the BOSTON RED SOX (-120).