Sports Betting Overview If the Tampa Bay Rays are going to make their move in the baseball betting standings, then the time to make that move is now. Immediately after the All-Star break, the Rays get the chance to take on the AL East leading Boston Red Sox. The MLB baseball scores have not been very kind to the Rays lately, but they need to develop some momentum at the beginning of the second half of the season if they want to be in the AL East pennant race when September rolls around. The MLB scores have been very good to the Boston Red Sox going into the All-Star break. The Red Sox won nine out the last 10 games before the All-Star break, including a six-game winning streak that the team is currently on. The Boston winning streak was enough to overcome the New York Yankees’ lead in the division and put the Yankees one game behind the Red Sox. Boston is doing everything right from getting top-notch starting pitching to scoring runs. When the pitching is not performing up to par, the Red Sox have been able to come up with the runs in support. The Boston bullpen has improved dramatically over the last few weeks and has been able to hold down leads. Tampa Bay Rays The Rays limped into the All-Star break on a two-game losing streak. In the 10 games leading up to the mid-summer classic, the Rays only won four games. The problem for the Rays has been the same all season; they cannot score runs. When Carl Crawford went to the Red Sox, he took a lot of the Tampa scoring punch with him. Now the Rays are finding it difficult to win close games and even more difficult to come back in games where they are losing. It is going to be interesting to see if the Rays try to make any moves before the trade deadline to bring in someone that can get on base and be a scoring threat. Boston Red Sox The much-improved Josh Beckett takes the mound for this game. Beckett looks ready to re-assume his role as staff ace with an 8-3 record and 2.27 ERA. He had some back injury issues early in the season, but he has recovered and is pitching well. Beckett is 6-2 in his last 10 starts with a 2.47 ERA. The last time he faced Tampa Bay was on June 15th when he pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout masterpiece. The Rays can expect pretty much the same in this game. The Bottom Line David Ortiz is hitting the ball well, Beckett is pitching well and Papelbon is back to his old self nailing down eight saves in his last 10 opportunities. This Red Sox team is just way too much for the Tampa Bay Rays to handle at this point in the season. Pick: Boston Red Sox
