The Tampa Bay Rays must win on Monday to avoid elimination from the 2021 MLB playoffs. Tampa Bay entered as the No. 1 seed after a 100-win season, but the Rays fell into a 2-1 hole against the Boston Red Sox after a Game 3 loss at Fenway Park on Sunday. The Red Sox benefitted from a controversial play to keep a run off the board for the Rays in extra innings before walking it off in the 13th frame. Game 4 is set for an evening start in Boston.
First pitch is at 7:07 p.m. ET in Boston. Caesars Sportsbook lists Boston as a -111 favorite (risk $111 to win $100) on the money line, while the over-under, or total number of runs Vegas thinks will be scored, is 9.5 in the latest Rays vs. Red Sox odds. Before making any Red Sox vs. Rays picks, be sure to see the MLB playoff predictions and betting advice from SportsLine’s proven model.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, enters the second week of the 2021 MLB playoffs with a 207-175 record on top-rated MLB money-line picks, returning well over $700. It also had a banner 2019 season, the league’s last full schedule, returning more than $1,400 on its top-rated money-line and run-line MLB picks. Anyone following it has seen some huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Red Sox vs. Rays and revealed its MLB playoff 2021 picks and analysis. You can head to SportsLine now to see the picks. Here are several MLB playoffs odds and trends for Rays vs. Red Sox:
- Rays vs. Red Sox money line: Red Sox -111, Rays +101
- Rays vs. Red Sox over-under: 9.5 runs
- Rays vs. Red Sox run line: Rays -1.5 (+145)
- Tampa Bay: The Rays are 48-34 on the road this season
- Boston: The Red Sox are 51-32 in 2021 home games
Featured Game | Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Why you should back the Rays
Playoff baseball is built on small sample sizes, but the Rays can take solace in their offensive profile over the lengthy season. In addition to leading the American League in run differential (+206), the Rays finished No. 2 in the league with 857 runs scored. Tampa Bay generated offense in myriad ways, producing 222 home runs (No. 3 in AL), 288 doubles (No. 3 in AL), 35 triples (No. 2), 88 stolen bases (No. 4 in AL), and 585 walks (No. 3 in AL).
Tampa Bay produced a .428 slugging percentage and a .749 OPS during the regular season, landing in the top five in both categories, and the Rays had a pair of 30-home run sluggers in Brandon Lowe and Mike Zunino. The Rays are also well known for their depth, and that manifests with 10 players having at least 10 home runs in the regular season, with star power from Randy Arozarena throughout the last two postseasons.
Why you should back the Red Sox
Boston’s bullpen has been a point of contention all season, but the team’s relievers have stepped up to the plate in this series. Nick Pivetta famously threw four innings of shutout baseball in Game 3, and the Red Sox generated eight innings with only two runs allowed after Nathan Eovaldi exited on Sunday. Offensively, the Red Sox are potent, even with Rafael Devers struggling in the playoffs after a 38-home run season.
Boston led the AL in doubles (330), with top-three marks in batting average (.261) and OPS (.777) this season, and the Red Sox were above-average with 219 home runs. Enrique Hernandez and Kyle Schwarber have stepped forward in the postseason, with Hernandez sporting a blistering OPS of 1.563 and Schwarber posting a three-hit day in Game 3 to boost his OPS to over 1.000.
How to make Red Sox vs. Rays picks
The model is leaning over on the total, projecting 9.9 combined runs. It also says one side of the money line has all the value. You can only get that pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Rays vs. Red Sox? And which side of the money line has all the value? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of Red Sox vs. Rays you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed it MLB picks, and find out.
