Red Sox Hope Beckett Can Get Back On Track, Against Surprising Rays

The Boston Red Sox turn to former staff ace, right-hander, Josh Beckett in this Game 2 matchup, needing a strong performance from Beckett whom I guarantee is not at full strength no matter what anyone else says.

The Tampa Bay Rays will counter with underrated left-hander Scott Kazmir, who can often toss overwhelming stuff at opposing hitters.

Beckett is 12-10 in 27 starts covering 174.1 innings with 172 strikeouts, 34 walks and a 4.03 ERA. Beckett tossed five innings in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels, allowing four runs on nine hits and four walks in jus five innings but escaped the loss in Boston’s 5-4 loss on Friday.

Kazmir is 12-8 in 27 starts covering 152.1 innings with 166 strikeouts, 12 walks and a 3.49 ERA. Kazmir led Tampa Bay to a 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday, allowing just two earned runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings.

Here is a look at the key trends for each ballclub, followed by my analysis in-depth analysis and MLB Betting Free Picks:

The Red Sox are 21-9 in Beckett’s last 30 road starts.

The Red Sox are 16-7 in Beckett’s last 23 starts during game 2 of a series.

The Rays are 13-3 in Kazmir’s last 16 Saturday starts.

The Rays are 16-5 in Kazmir’s last 21 starts during game 2 of a series.

The Under is 4-0-1 in Beckett’s last 5 starts overall.

The Under is 5-1 in Beckett’s last 6 road starts vs. a team with a winning record.

The Over is 4-0 in Kazmir’s last 4 starts vs. American League East.

The Over is 6-1 in Kazmir’s last 7 starts overall.

The Over is 5-0 in Kazmir’s last 5 starts vs. Red Sox.

The Under is 4-1 in Beckett’s last 5 starts vs. Rays.

Analysis: I don’t think this pick requires much guesswork at all with Tampa Bay playing at home and facing a struggling Josh Beckett, whom I believe is somewhere in the neighborhood of 85-90 percent of his normal self after dealing with some late-season injuries.

Simply put, I say take the feisty Rays to win another home contest and take another step toward making the first World Series appearance in franchise history.

MLB Free Picks: Rays 4 Red Sox 3