MLB odds: How to bet Rays vs. Red Sox, picks, point spread, more
The Tampa Bay Rays were the best team in the American League during the regular season, the only club in the AL to win 100 games. Now the Boston Red Sox have them one loss away from calling it a season.
After dropping the opener in the best-of-five American League Division Series, the Red Sox hold a 2-1 series lead after Sunday's 6-4 win in 13 innings.
In postseason history, the Game 3 winner in any best-of-five series that was tied 1-1 has won the series 39 out of 54 times (72 percent).
Extra innings in Boston have not been kind to Tampa Bay. Sunday's walkoff loss was the Rays’ fourth in postseason play, and second in Boston as Tampa Bay lost Game 5 in the 2008 American League Championship Series.
It was Boston's 13th walk-off postseason win in franchise history.
The Rays are 48-34 on the road this season. Boston is 51-32 at home.
Boston manager Alex Cora had planned on starting Nick Pivetta in Game 5, but the right-hander pitched the final four innings Sunday to earn the win. He allowed three hits and no runs on one walk and seven strikeouts. He earned his first career postseason victory
Pivetta threw 73 pitches in long relief Thursday and, after Sunday, has thrown 140 pitches in roughly 72 hours.
But Boston's five other pitchers used in Game 3 threw between eight and 19 pitches, so Cora should have plenty of arms at his disposal.
Tampa Bay may have a shortage of arms in Game 4. Rays manager Kevin Cash used nine pitchers to pitch 12 innings Sunday, with a pair throwing two innings each. The rest ranged from 1 ⅔ innings to two-thirds of an inning. "We’ll find a way to piece it together," Cash said.
Cora said he will probably start Eduardo Rodriguez in Game 4.
Collin McHugh is expected to start, with Michael Wacha available to throw multiple innings for the Rays.
The teams combined to use 16 pitchers in Game 3. Those pitchers threw 389 pitches but only one Rays reliever threw more than 25 pitches (David Robertson, who threw 40).
Tampa Bay's bullpen allowed only three runs in more than 10 innings in Game 3 and was the ALs top team in bullpen ERA (3.24).
Tampa Bay Rays @ Boston Red Sox (7:07 p.m. ET Monday, FOX Sports 1)
Point spread: Rays -1.0 (Rays favored to win by more than one run)
Moneyline: Red Sox -150 favorites (bet $10 to win $16.67 total); Rays +125 underdogs to win (bet $10 to win $22.50 total)
Total scoring over/under: 9 runs scored by both teams combined
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