Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays 10/7/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

AL East Division rivals will clash on Thursday night, when the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays open up their AL East Division series from Tropicana Field. On Tuesday, Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber homered to power Boston to a 6-2 home victory versus New York in the American League Wild Card game. SP Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run over five plus innings to earn the win for the Red Sox.

Twenty-eight year old southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez (13-8 4.74 ERA) will head to the hill for the Red Sox in this contest. Rodriguez is 9-4 on the road and his ERA is almost a full run less away from Fenway Park.

The Tampa Bay Rays won 52 of their 81 home games during the regular season and won the AL East Division by a comfortable eight-game margin. The Rays (100-62) feature a dominant bullpen that finished third in the majors with a 3.29 ERA. 2B Brandon Lowe (39 HR) leads a powerful Tampa Bay lineup that consists of ten players that hit double digit home runs.

The Rays will counter with rookie left-hander Shane McClanahan (10-6 3.43 ERA) on Thursday. In 13 home starts, McClanahan was 7-3 with a 3.50 ERA and struck out 80 batters through 64 plus innings.