Guardians vs. Red Sox Prediction and Odds for Thursday, July 28 (Back Cleveland Again With McKenzie on Mound)
By Peter Dewey
Things keep getting worse for the Boston Red Sox, as defensive miscues led to them squandering a comeback effort on Wednesday in a 7-6 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
Boston will try to salvage the series split on Thursday, but it will have to face one of the hottest pitchers in baseball in Triston McKenzie.
McKenzie (7-6, 3.11 ERA) will go up against Boston starter Kutter Crawford (2-3, 4.50 ERA). It’s hard to find a better name than “Kutter” for a baseball pitcher, for what it’s worth.
The Red Sox are just 2-8 in their last 10 games and are in last place in the AL East. Do they have a shot to turn things around Thursday?
Here are the odds from WynnBET for this matchup:
Guardians vs. Red Sox Odds, Run Line and Total
Run Line:
- Guardians -1.5 (+145)
- Red Sox +1.5 (-175)
Moneyline:
- Guardians: -112
- Red Sox: +102
Total:
- 9 (Over -115/Under -105)
Guardians vs. Red Sox Prediction and Pick
After a brutal finish to the month of June, McKenzie has been simply unhittable in July. The young righty has four starts this month and he’s allowed just one earned run over 26.1 innings (0.34 ERA) while striking out 27 batters.
The former first-round pick has thrown 5.2 innings or more in each of those starts, and the Guardians have won seven of his last eight outings.
Since moving to the starting rotation, Crawford has been solid for Boston, posting a 3.16 ERA in six starts with the team going 3-3 in those games.
I wouldn’t mind an UNDER in this game if I could trust the Red Sox bullpen, but the team is bottom-10 in bullpen ERA and the defense has been suspect during this lengthy losing stretch.
Instead, I’ll back Cleveland as a road favorite, especially after cashing on the Guardians as a dog on Wednesday. McKenzie should handle a Boston lineup without Rafael Devers pretty easily.
Lean: Guardians ML (-112)
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.