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Opposites attract on Tuesday when the Boston Red Sox go on the road to face the Cleveland Guardians with the Red Sox being carried by their offense and Guardians their pitching.
Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians (-120, 87.5
Veteran James Paxton is making his fifth start of the season but just his 11th start since the beginning of the 2020 season due to injury and enters with both positive and negative metrics.
Paxton is getting 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings, but also allowing 3.3 walks per nine innings and four home runs in just 19 innings to get to a respectable 4.26 ERA.
He faces a Guardians lineup that is last in the league in home runs but also has struck out the fewest amount of times of any American League lineup.
The Guardians counter on the mound with 2020 Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, who looks very different from when he won the Cy Young Award.
In 2020, Bieber posted a 1.63 ERA with 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings, a mark that is down to 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings with a 3.72 ERA and having allowed a total of 17 runs, 16 of which were earned, in his last four starts.
Bieber and the Guardians are now tasked with shutting down a Red Sox lineup that is fourth in the league in runs per game and entered the week third in the league in on-base percentage.
With a pair of volatile starting pitchers getting starts coupled with a Red Sox bullpen that is untested and ranked 20th in the league in ERA the past 30 days, Tuesday sets up for a rare high scoring game involving the Guardians.
The Play: Red Sox vs. Guardians Over 7.5