Boston (1-1) –145, o/u 10 at Texas (1-1), 8:05 p.m. Eastern
by Ultimatecapper.com baseball writer Darin
The Boston Red Sox trot out one of their off-season acquisitions to the mound Wednesday night as they take on the Texas Rangers in the rubber match of this season-opening three-game series in Arlington.
Boston beat the Rangers 7-3 in Monday’s opener, but Texas got even with a 10-4 victory Tuesday. One of the Rangers off-season additions, starter Vincent Padilla, held the Sox to one run in six innings, and the offense banged out 13 hits and three homers to lead the way.
Both teams feature very potent line-ups, and this is one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the majors. In 2005, both Boston and Texas games averaged 10.6 runs scored, and games in Arlington averaged 11.0 runs.
Boston has won eight of the last 11 meetings between the two teams.
Wednesday’s starter Josh Beckett, making his first appearance for the Red Sox since coming over from Florida in the off-season, has never pitched vs. Texas. Beckett went 15-8 with an ERA of 3.38 for the Marlins in 2005, but he missed the last couple of weeks of the season with tendinitis in his shoulder.
Florida went 17-12 in Beckett’s starts last season, and the over went 16-10 in those games.
Texas starter Kameron Loe went 9-6 with a very respectable 3.42 ERA in 2005, pitching both out of the bullpen and in the rotation. The Rangers went 5-3 in Loe’s starts last season, and the over went 3-4 in those games. Loe made two relief appearances vs. Boston last year, allowing three earned runs in three innings pitched.
The Boston bullpen compiled a 5.18 ERA and a 67% save percentage in ‘05.
Rangers relievers accumulated a 4.85 ERA and a 71% save ratio a season ago.
Tonight’s projected home-plate umpire, Bruce Dreckman, called 33 games behind the plate last season. Those games averaged 9.2 runs, and the over went 13-18 in Dreckman-called games in ‘05.
The over is 6-1 in the last seven games and 11-6-3 in the last 20 games in the series between these two teams.
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The Ultimatecapper Pick: We're not real fond of playing favorites, but we like Boston today.
