Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox 9/6/22 MLB Picks, Predictions, Odds

Boston Red Sox (67-69) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (75-58)
September 6, 2022 6:40 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Rays -175 / Boston Red Sox +150; Over/Under: +7
(Get latest betting odds)

The Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays meet in an AL East division matchup in MLB action from Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

The Boston Red Sox will look to bounce back from a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Rays in Monday’s series opener. Xander Bogaerts has 153 hits, a .317 batting average and 37 doubles while Rafael Devers has 137 hits with 37 doubles. Alex Verdugo has 9 home runs and 63 RBIs while Devers has a team-high 25 home runs and 73 RBIs. J.D. Martinez also has 37 doubles, a .273 batting average and 51 RBIs this year and Trevor Story has 63 RBIs as well for Boston. Rich Hill will start here and is 6-5 with a 4.52 ERA and 76 strikeouts this season.

The Tampa Bay Rays will try to build off of their win over the Red Sox in Monday’s series opener. Randy Arozarena has a team-high 129 hits, 71 RBIs, 18 home runs and 32 doubles and Isaac Paredes also has 18 home runs and 40 RBIs. Manuel Margot has 37 RBIs and a .298 batting average of his own and Kevin Kiermaier has 7 home runs of his own while Yandy Diaz has 122 hits and a .290 batting average as well on the year. Ji-Man Choi also has 48 RBIs up to this point. Drew Rasmussen will start here and is 9-4 with a 2.70 ERA and 103 strikeouts this season.

Boston is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall and 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a right-handed starter while the under is 6-0-2 in Hill’s last 8 division starts. Tampa Bay is 9-q in their last 10 games against a team with a left-handed starter and 5-0 in Rasmussen’s last 5 starts against a team with a losing record while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 game two matchups.

I get the case to be made for the Red Sox in this spot as Boston’s been on a decent run as of late. However, so has Tampa Bay and I trust the Rays and Drew Rasmussen a heck of a lot more than I trust Rich Hill whenever he takes the mound for the BoSox. I think this ends up as one of those series where it’s close but no cigar for Boston as Tampa Bay wins another one on Tuesday so give me Tampa Bay here.