Our Tuesday night MLB predictions take us to Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum where the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s will continue their three-game set. Pitching stole the show in the series opener last night, but it was the Red Sox that ended up on top by a 2-1 final tally.
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The victory was much needed for manager Terry Francona’s club who most recently dropped three of four-games at home to the AL West leading Texas Rangers right out of the break. Boston’s played second fiddle to the Rays and Yankees all season long, but only finds itself six-games out of first in the division and 3.5-games out in the AL Wild Card chase.

Oakland has battled injuries all season long, but nonetheless, it still finds itself around the .500 mark coming into tonight’s baseball betting battle going 46-47 ($48) on the year. They trail the aforementioned Rangers by eight-games in the division and trail the Rays by 10.5-games for the Wild Card. The A’s have played five-games over .500 at home (26-21); good for a $400+ return on the season.

Boston Red Sox (53-40, $235) vs. Oakland A’s (46-47, $48)
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, July 20th, 10:05 ET
Game Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA
TV/Radio Broadcast: NESN, Comcast (CA), XM

MLB Odds: Boston Red Sox Even (Tim Wakefield – R) vs. Oakland A’s -120 (Dallas Braden – L): Total 8 O -120 8 U Even

Knuckler Timmy Wakefield enters his 16th start of the year off his most humiliating effort of the season last time out against Texas. The Rangers lit him up for eight hits (1 HR) and seven runs through just two innings of work; six of the runs were tallied in the 1st inning. The defeat dropped him to 3-8 on the year and raised his ERA to 5.65. He has however been better away from Fenway where he stands 2-3 with a 4.40 ERA & 1.29 WHIP through 45 innings of work. Boston had won his previous three starts against the A’s up until June 3rd of this season when he got roughed up for eight hits and six ER’s in the Red Sox 9-8 home loss. He’s 8-7 with a 4.81 ERA & 1.38 WHIP lifetime vs. Oakland.

Dallas Braden will be making his first start for the A’s since getting raked for 10 hits and four runs at home by the Cincinnati Reds back on June 22nd. He’s been saddled with an elbow injury since, but most recently made an appearance in the Minors to get him ready for tonight’s start. Oakland’s 4-5 with him leading its charge at home this season. He’s 4-7 overall with a 3.83 ERA, and that number falls to 3.15 at home. He led the A’s to a carefree 8-2 win in his only career home start vs. the BoSox last April. He’s 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in his career vs. the Red Sox.

MLB Insider Tip: These teams split their 2009 season series at five games apiece, but the BoSox hold a 3-1 advantage after scoring the solid win last night. Both of these clubs look to be in disarray with the plethora of injuries incurred on both sides. That said, I still have to go with the Red Sox line-up in this one as I just don’t trust the A’s to get to Wakefield even though he enters this outing in very poor form. Boston’s 17-13 ($120) vs. southpaws and has gone 6-3 ($360) when installed road underdogs in the +100 to +125 range to date. Oakland’s just 19-30 (-$910) vs. +.500 opposition on the year, and my MLB predictions have them falling into an 0-2 hole in this series tonight.

My MLB Prediction: Boston Red Sox (Wakefield)
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com