Athletics vs. Red Sox Prediction and Odds for Thursday, June 16 (Hill Continues to Defy Odds, Age, for Boston)

As much as it pains me to say this publicly, The Red Sox look good right now. In 11 games this month before their current series started, the Red Sox went 9-2 straight up. Boston won Game 1 of this series 6-1 and is slowly working its way up the AL East leaderboard. 

Oakland, meanwhile, continues to play below-average baseball with just one win this month before this series started. Including Tuesday’s Game 1, the A’ are 1-12 in their previous 13 games. Not a good look. 

Here are the odds for this game from consensus sportsbooks.

Athletics vs. Red Sox Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

• Athletics: +1.5 (-165)
• Red Sox: -1.5 (+145)

Moneyline:

• Athletics: +120
• Red Sox: -140

Total:

• Total 9.5 (Over +100/Under -120)

Athletics vs. Red Sox Prediction and Pick

While the Athletics are a terrible team, they do have one of their best assets on the mound tonight in Paul Blackburn.

After two bad games, Blackburn got back on track with an eight-inning shutout over the Guardians last week. He allowed just three hits while striking out three and walking one. As a result of his strong start in Cleveland, Blackburn boasts a 2.31 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 66 ⅓ innings. Blackburn already faced the Red Sox once this month but suffered a loss after giving up four runs in as many innings. Blackburn has been shaky as of late, but both bad starts came on the road.

The 28-year-old has been lights out at 4-0 on the road with a 0.91 ERA in 39 ⅔ innings. Blackburn has yet to give up a home run away from the Colosseum all year. 

Blackburn will have his work cut out for him with Rich Hill getting the start for Boston. The 42-year-old remains a viable option for Boston despite a few hiccups. But Hill has a 4.38 ERA and 1.22 WHIP entering his second start against Oakland. He spun six innings of the three-hit ball earlier this month against the A’s while striking out five and walking none.

The Current A’s are bad enough most days but have a combined career batting average of just .161 against Hill. The Red Sox, on the other hand, are 5-for-1 against Blackburn with four RBIs. 

I’m tempted to take the value on the A’s with Blackburn on the mound but the Red Sox are too hot to fade here. Oakland is a bad team no matter who is pitching and Boston should roll to a win in this series finale. 

Pick: Red Sox -140 ML

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