The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays face off in the second game of a three-game set at Tropicana Field on Saturday.
These AL East foes enter with identical 7-7 records and oddsmakers are expecting a close contest as the MLB betting lines hit the board with the Rays as slim -120 home favorites.
Here are our best free Red Sox vs. Rays MLB picks and predictions for April 23, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
Red Sox vs Rays odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
This line opened with the Rays installed as favorites in the range of -120 to -125 with the Over/Under at 8. Early money has come in on Tampa Bay and the Under, shifting the line to the -125 to -136 range and moving the total down to 7.5
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
Red Sox vs Rays predictions
Picks made on 4/23/2022 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Red Sox vs Rays game info
• Location: Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay, FL
• Date: Saturday, April 23, 2022
• First pitch: 6:10 p.m. ET
• TV: NESN, Bally Sports Sun
Red Sox vs Rays betting preview
Starting pitchers
Garrett Whitlock RHP (1-0, 0.93 ERA): The 25-year-old will make his first career start after making four appearances out of the bullpen this season, most recently logging a three-up and three-down inning against the Blue Jays on Tuesday. As a rookie last year, Whitlock had a 1.96 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP and 81 punchouts in 73 1-3 innings as a reliever.
J.P. Feyereisen RHP (0-0, 0.00 ERA): Feyereisen pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts as the opener in a 9-3 win on Sunday against the White Sox. The 29-year-old got his first extensive taste of playing in the bigs last season, recording a 2.73 ERA with a 1.23 WHIP in 56 innings out of the bullpen.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Red Sox: J.D. Martinez RF (Questionable), Josh Taylor RP (Out).
Rays: Francisco Mejia C (Out), JT Chargois RP (Out), Peter Fairbanks RP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Rays are 73-25 in their last 98 home games vs. a right-handed starter. Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Rays
Red Sox vs Rays picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
The Red Sox edged the Rays 4-3 last night with former Tampa Bay starter Michael Wacha picking up the win against his old team and Xander Bogaerts racking up three hits for the second game in a row.
The Sox have now won four in a row against the Rays but I wouldn't take too much away from that, since these AL East foes go through plenty of streaks against each other. As a matter of fact, the Red Sox started off last season by winning the first four games in the head-to-head before losing nine of the next 10 meetings.
Both squads will go with openers and use their bullpens heavily in this contest. The Red Sox will give the ball to young Garret Whitlock, who has allowed just four hits and one run while fanning 11 batters in 9 2-3 innings this year.
The Rays will give the pill to J.P. Feyereisen, who has given up just a pair of hits through 5 1-3 scoreless innings this season. Perhaps more importantly, Feyereison has reigned in his control and after 33 walks in 56 innings last year he has yet to walk a single batter this season.
In 10 innings (regular season and postseason) against the BoSox last year, Feyereison allowed seven hits and a pair of runs.
Whitlock had less success against the Rays and was dinged in two of his appearances against them, finishing the regular season with a 5.14 ERA and a .375 OBA in 12 innings against the Rays. However, he looked very sharp against them in the postseason, pitching 3 1-3 innings of shutout ball without a single hit and just one walk.
Both of these bullpens have also been excellent. Tampa Bay's bullpen is one of the deepest and most well-managed units in the majors and is fifth in the majors with a collective 1.03 WHIP while Boston's relievers are 10th with a 2.79 ERA.
When it comes to hitting, the Rays have been a bit more consistent and rank ninth in the majors with an OPS of .718. The Red Sox are 18th with a .660 OPS and while Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, and Alex Verdugo have been sensational the rest of their lineup (including big offseason acquisition Trevor Story) has been beyond awful.
The Rays have a few more high-leverage arms out of their bullpen which gives them more flexibility in this pitching matchup. They have also been a bit more consistent at the dish and are at home where they've gone 50-22 in their last 72 games. We'll back to them to snap out of their recent skid as short faves.
Prediction: Rays moneyline (-125 at bet365)
Over/Under analysis
We mentioned that both openers have looked sharp this season and both bullpens have been very reliable but we're actually going against the line movement and taking the Over.
Bullpen games are simply so volatile and all it takes is one pitcher or two to be off and the floodgates will open. That's especially true with how dangerous these lineups are despite up-and-down offensive production this season.
Don't forget that these were two of the four highest-scoring teams in the majors last season and the analytics indicate that they've been making quality contact this year even if the results haven't always followed suit. The Red Sox are fifth in the majors in barrels per plate appearance while the Rays are fourth in hard-hit rate.
Prediction: Over 7.5 (+101 at Sports Interaction)
Best bet
Rays shortstop Wander Franco has been on fire to start the season. The highly-touted prospect flashed superstar potential as a rookie last year and has elevated his game to a whole other level this season slashing .393/.397/.714 with seven doubles, a triple, and three homers in 13 games.
The 21-year-old crushed a pair of solo dingers last night and with an MLB-leading 40 total bases (including six-straight contests with at least two total bases) there are a few different prop bets we like today.
The Over 1.5 total bases certainly looks appealing at +110 but Franco has also picked up at least two hits in eight of 13 games this season. That has us really liking him to record 2+ hits which is priced at +210 on FanDuel. If that isn't available at your book, the Over 1.5 hits is in the neighborhood of +185.
Pick: Wander Franco to record 2+ hits (+210 at FanDuel)
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