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The Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians square off on Friday with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Nick Pivetta (7-5, 3.31 ERA) will start for the Red Sox, while the Guardians will begin with Cal Quantrill (4-4, 3.77 ERA) on the mound.
Boston (39-31) has won four games in a row and is 5-1 in their last six games. They are coming off a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox have scored at least five runs in each of their last four games and are actually playing to their potential in this stretch. Pivetta is making his 15th start of the year. He is 7-1 in his last eight starts including when he pitched seven innings and gave up four hits and one earned run while striking out 10 in his last start.
Cleveland (36-29) still remains atop the AL Central and just won a series against the Minnesota Twins. They took two out of three while dropping the finale 1-0. The Guardians are still 8-2 over their last ten games giving them momentum as they welcome Boston to town. Quantrill will make his 13th start of the year. He is coming off a loss where he was knocked around for 10 hits and five earned runs in just five innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Red Sox vs. Guardians
Pitchers: Nick Pivetta vs. Cal Quantrill
First pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET
Red Sox local broadcast: NESN
Guardians local broadcast: Bally Sports Great Lakes
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Red Sox -1.5 (+140)
Run total: 9
Moneyline odds: Red Sox -125, Guardians +105
Moneyline pick: Boston -125
The Red Sox are playing great baseball right now and will likely be more confident in Pivetta taking the mound. Quantrill has been solid, but when you look at his good performances they have recently come against bottom-tier teams. Cleveland is going to have to give him ample run support to stay in this one, and I just don’t think it happens.
Player prop pick: Nick Pivetta over 4.5 strikeouts (-160)
Pivetta has been on a roll with at least five strikeouts in five of his last six starts. Pivetta is getting the run support from a hot lineup and that will take the pressure off of him on the mound. We have seen his season turn around, so we can expect him to strike out at least five batters on Friday night, against the Guardians, who have struck out the fewest times in the MLB so far this season.
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