Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox Friday Betting Preview, Odds, Picks

Friday night features an American League matchup of Central versus East as the Cleveland Indians (67-64) take on the Boston Red Sox (77-59). The Red Sox will host this one at Fenway Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm ET.

This will be the first of a three-game series between the two teams over the weekend.

Coming into the series, the Indians just finished a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals and have now won four in a row. In Thursday’s finale, they won 4-2 behind six innings of one-run ball from Triston McKenzie.

The Red Sox started the week with a split of a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. After dropping the first two games, the Red Sox won the last two, including a 4-0 win on Thursday. Eduardo Rodriguez pitched six scoreless innings in the victory.

The Red Sox are the favorites to win Friday. They are -208 to win while the Indians’ moneyline sits at +160.

Pitching Matchup

The Indians will turn to Cal Quantrill (4-2, 2.93 ERA) to take the ball in the opener. Quantrill has been really good as of late, going 2-0 with a 1.43 ERA in his last seven starts.

Boston will counter with veteran righty Nathan Eovaldi. On the season, he is 10-8 with a 3.71 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and has 154 strikeouts in 150.1 innings pitched.

By The Number

Boston has been one of the strongest teams in the majors on the offensive side this season. They currently rank fifth in scoring averaging 5.02 runs per game (5.72 at home). The Indians rank 16th, averaging 4.47 runs.

Defensively, Cleveland has the slight edge. In terms of scoring defense, the Indians rank 15th. They are allowing opponents 4.53 runs per game. The Red Sox rank 17th allowing 4.61 runs per game.

Indians Look To Stay Hot

At 67-64, the Indians sit in second place in the AL Central, but they are still 9.5 games behind the White Sox. Despite their tough season, they have been impressive as of late and have won seven of ten. On Friday, they will look to stay hot as they take on Boston.

Leading the way for the offense is third baseman Jose Ramirez. This season, he is hitting .256/.346/.541 and leads the team in home runs (31), runs batted in (84), runs (88), and stolen bases (19).

Keep an eye on Franmil Reyes in this one. Albeit in four at-bats, Reyes is hitting .500 with a home run against Nathan Eovaldi in his career.

Red Sox Hoping To Secure Postseason Spot

If the season ended today, the Boston Red Sox would be in the postseason as the second wild card team. Sitting just two games ahead of the A’s, though, the Red Sox know they need to keep their foot on the gas pedal.

While players like Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez have dominated this season for Boston, first baseman Bobby Dalbec has been their hottest hitter as of late. In the last couple of weeks, he is hitting .379/.471/.862 with four home runs, 11 runs batted in, and six runs scored.

Kyle Schwarber will look to keep his power stroke going against Cal Quantrill Friday. While he is only two for eight against the righty in his career, both of his hits have been home runs.

Can Indians Make It Five In A Row?

Despite the postseason basically being out of reach, it has been nice to see some fight out of the Indians. While the sweep against the Royals made for a great start to the week, they will have a much tougher task against Boston this weekend.

Cal Quantrill has really pitched well as of late, but he will have to step it up even more against a Red Sox team that is 41-26 when playing at Fenway Park.

If he can pitch like he has recently, the Indians certainly have a chance to take this opener and make it five wins in a row.

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