Boston Red Sox vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, Preview and Odds - 08/18/2022

Game Time: 7:05 pm ET, Thursday, August 18, 2022

Venue:  PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Where to Watch:  MLB Network

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Red Sox -155, Pirates +135; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Red Sox -155, Pirates +135; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Red Sox -160, Pirates +135; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

 

Boston Red Sox:  58-59 (5th place, AL East)

Pittsburgh Pirates:  45-71 (5th place, NL Central)

 

Do not miss out on our expert handicapper analysis! Will Rogers has made +$26,360 L14 MONTHS! Make sure you check out his picks and many more from the expert handicappers featured in the Shop Picks section.

 

 

Boston Red Sox:  5-5 last 10

Pittsburgh Pirates:  2-8 last 10

 

 

 

 

The Red Sox enter this game on a 2 game winning streak. They won their last series against the New York Yankees 2-1 in a 3-game series. They enter this game with a 58-59 record overall and have a road record of 29-29. This is the series finale of a 3-game series with the Pirates on Thursday with the 2nd game still to be played on Wednesday. Their offense ranks 12th in the MLB with a .719 OPS. Rich Hill is their starting pitcher on Wednesday while Nathan Eovaldi is making his start in this game on Thursday. He is 5-3 with a 4.15 ERA this season. His team won 2 of their last 3 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last start, he allowed 2 ER, 1 HR, and 2 BB with 3 Ks on 8 hits through 6 IP against the New York Yankees. 

 

The Pirates enter this game on a 5 game losing streak. They lost their last series against the San Francisco Giants getting swept 3-0 in a 3-game series. They enter this game with a 45-71 record overall and have a home record of 24-30. This is the 3rd game of a 3-game series with the Red Sox on Thursday with the 2nd game still to be played on Wednesday. Their offense ranks 28th in the MLB with a .651 OPS. Roansy Contreras is their starting pitcher on Wednesday while Bryse Wilson is making his start in this game on Thursday. He is 2-7 with a 5.93 ERA this season. His team won 2 of their last 3 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last start, he allowed 4 ER, 1 HR, and 2 BB with 1 K on 6 hits through 5.1 IP against the San Francisco Giants. 

The current betting odds have the Red Sox listed as a favorite in this game. The Red Sox have been starting to play a lot better in their recent games. They have been winning more games now but their offense has also been scoring a lot more runs in these games. Even their pitching has been a lot better as they are not allowing a lot of runs in their games anymore and this is a good series for them to boost their confidence in. They just beat the Yankees in their last series and now they have a bad Pirates team here that has been awful all season and already lost the series opener here. The Pirates have been losing a lot of their games recently and their offense has been very bad in those games, but so has their pitching. The Red Sox are starting to gain some confidence now with their recent wins and as bad as they have been over the last few weeks, they are starting to pick up a bit and are playing a lot better than the Pirates are. The best way to place a bet here is on the Red Sox to win this game.

 

Red Sox Pirates Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Thursday, August 18, 2022 (7:05 pm ET start time) is Red Sox 6 Pirates 3.

Don't miss our champion handicappers free picks, best bets, and expert baseball picks today.  And if you enjoyed this Boston Red Sox Pittsburgh Pirates prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily MLB projections and previews.

 

 

Boston Red Sox: 88-86 (+8.3 Units) ML in road games. 33-23 (+13.7 Units) ML in an inter-league game. 121-109 (+4.7 Units) ML against right-handed starters. 

Pittsburgh Pirates: 125-213 (-27.2 Units) ML in all games. 39-48 (-6.8 Units) ML when the money line is +125 to -125. 16-37 (-15.8 Units) ML in an inter-league game.

 

 

Boston Red Sox:  T. Story (2B) Late Aug - Wrist. R. Refsnyder (LF) Ques Wed - Knee. X. Bogaerts (SS) Ques Wed - Shin.

Pittsburgh Pirates:  R. Perez (C) out for season - Hamstring. C. Smith-Njigba (CF) Late Aug - Wrist. T. Heineman (C) Out indefinitely - Groin.

 

 

 

"We need to be better than that. The quality of at-bats got worse throughout the game. I'm not saying we got lucky because we put up some good at-bats early on, especially in the first inning, but we can't stop. That way you get to the bullpen and all that, but at the end of the day, we'll take it." - Alex Cora after his team’s win against the Pirates on Tuesday.

 

 

"(Pitching coach Oscar Marin) and I were talking, and we didn't like the way he was moving down the mound. As good as his tempo's been and the way he's been attacking, he just did not look the same tonight. He said he didn't have any pain, but we didn't want to risk it." - Derek Shelton on Keller after his team’s loss against the Red Sox on Tuesday.

 

 

 

Tommy Pham (R) LF

Rafael Devers (L) 3B

J.D. Martinez (R) DH

Alex Verdugo (L) RF

Christian Arroyo (R) 2B

Eric Hosmer (L) 1B

Enrique Hernandez (R) SS

Reese McGuire (L) C

Jarren Duran (L) CF

 

Tucupita Marcano (L) LF

Kevin Newman (R) 2B

Bryan Reynolds (S) CF

Ben Gamel (L) DH

Kevin Padlo (R) 1B

Oneil Cruz (L) SS

Rodolfo Castro (S) 3B

Bligh Madris (L) RF

Jason Delay (R) C

 

 

Batting Average:  Reese McGuire (.409)

Hits:  Xander Bogaerts (125)

Home Runs:  Rafael Devers (25)

RBI:  Rafael Devers (62)

Stolen Bases:  Trevor Story (10)

Wins:  Nick Pivetta (9)

Saves:  Tanner Houck (8)

ERA:  Kevin Plawecki (0.00)

 

Batting Average:  Liover Peguero (.333)

Hits:  Ke'Bryan Hayes (98)

Home Runs:  Bryan Reynolds (17)

RBI:  Bryan Reynold (40)

Stolen Bases:  Ke'Bryan Hayes (13)

Wins:  Dillon Peters (5)

Saves:  David Bednar (17)

ERA:  Max Kranick (0.00)

 

Managers:

Boston Red Sox: Alex Cora (4th season)

Pittsburgh Pirates: Derek Shelton (3rd season)