Why the Boston Red Sox run line is the play against the Athletics and Mason Barnett tonight

Another 1-1 day in the books for us as yesterday was one of the more interesting results that we’ve had. I had two unders in two separate games. One of them involved Tarik Skubal and Trevor Rogers pitching, which should scream under. The Tigers jumped on Rogers and were up 7-0 at one point. If the game went final, we would’ve won that bet. Instead, the teams combined to score 19 runs, obliterating my total. Oh well, better than losing a heartbreaker.

The Boston Red Sox have had one of the hottest stretches of their entire franchise history. Considering they’ve been around for over 100 years, that should put it into some context for you. That stretch launched them from being sellers at the trade deadline to likely buyers, and potentially a playoff team. I really don’t know what the issue was to start the season for Boston, or what caused the turnaround. Their numbers for both pitching and hitting are strong, so maybe it was just a matter of time before it all worked out.

Today they bring out Sonny Gray, someone who probably would’ve netted them a big return, but now will be the focal point of their rotation should they make the playoffs. Gray has been good for years, but this season is his best since 2023 or maybe 2019. He is 12-2 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Originally, he was throwing better at home than on the road, but that has evened out. He has turned in a quality start in each of his past six road starts. He hasn’t faced the Athletics this season, but they are 8-for-29 against him overall.

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The Athletics have one of the worst records in baseball since June 11. It reminds me a bit of last year when they lost something like 20 of 21 games. The team is not this bad, but the plan for this team was never to be great this season. They are building for when they come to Las Vegas. There are some talented players on the roster, but they are likely to make some moves for the future in the next few days. They did call up Tommy White already, one of their highly drafted picks, and he looks great so far, so they are already starting a youth movement.

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The books have Mason Barnett listed as the starting pitcher for the game. This will be the first start for the right-hander this season. For the year, he has a 4.74 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. The Athletics have used him in a variety of ways out of the bullpen this year. He has some saves; he has also thrown four innings in an outing. He has struggled in July, allowing 11 earned runs over 9.1 innings, and the Athletics have lost every game he has appeared in.

Tonight should be no different; the Red Sox are clearly the better team in this game, and they definitely have the better pitcher. Boston has the best ERA in baseball, and the Athletics have the worst bullpen in baseball. Telling you to take a team at -185 isn’t exactly tough to do, so I’m going to tell you the run line is a better look. The Red Sox have only been in 23 one-run games, and the Athletics have been in just 29. Give me the Red Sox run line.

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