Last year the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox met in a first-round playoff series. So far this year those two teams are a combined five games under .500. So both teams are looking to get their act together as they continue a four-game series at Fenway Park Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday.
For Tuesday's game, the Red Sox will trout out veteran lefthander Jon Lester (1-2, 4.71) to start this game while the Angels go with their ace righthander Ervin Santana (1-2, 4.59).
Boston is listed as -190 odds favorites on the Bodog.com moneyline while the Angels are getting +160 odds. The Bodog run total is holding at 9.
The Sox banged out 20 hits in winning the opener of this series Monday night 17-8, breaking a three-game losing streak and extending the Angels' streak to four games. Boston sits in fourth place in the AL East, 6.5 games out of first, while the Angels are in third place in the AL West, 2.5 games from the lead.
Santana has been hurt by a few mistakes, many of which have ended up a part of the six home runs he has allowed through five starts. He hasn't received a ton of run support and has pitched better than a 1-2 record would indicate. Santana struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings of a no-decision on Tuesday vs. Cleveland.
Lester picked up his first victory of the season on Wednesday starting against the Blue Jays giving up only 1 run on 11 hits in seven innings pitched. He made 119 pitches, 75 for strikes, and was able to work both sides of the plate, using a changeup effectively when behind in the count. He regained the feel on his cutter. His curveball was good and he was able to locate his fastball. He was able to keep his pitches down. With all of that going for him, it was the fifth time in his career that he had 11 or more strikeouts in a game.
MLB Picks: We like the home team (-190 SU) on the arm of Lester.
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