The Boston Red Sox Look To Take the Series Against the KC Royals

Wagering: 1.888.238.8018 - 1.888.889.4313
Customer Service: 1.877.717.7747 - 1.888.889.4368

: 1.888.238.8198 - 1.888.889.4312
: 1.888.378.0888 - 1.888.889.4219

The Boston Red Sox Look To Take the Series Against the KC Royals

After losing a marathon game against the Royals, the bats woke up in game two and now the Sox will look to take the series with a win in game three.

Betting baseball will make the long season more exciting and there is no place better to wager on major league baseball than BetPhoenix. Online sportsbook BetPhoenix has the latest odds and wagering opportunities on every game in baseball.

Piling up hits and scoring plenty of runs is nothing new for the Boston Red Sox. Having John Lackey win four consecutive starts, however, is something the franchise hasn’t yet seen.

Lackey looks to accomplish that feat for the first time since donning a Red Sox uniform as Boston continues a four-game set with the visiting Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

The Red Sox (63-38), who lead the majors with 5.5 runs per game, became the first team to record at least 10 hits in 10 straight home games this season, compiling 16 during Tuesday’s 13-9 victory over the Royals (43-60). Boston also recorded double-digit runs for an MLB-best 15th time - surpassing its total from last season.

David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia each went 4 for 5, with Ortiz driving in a season-best five and Pedroia scoring three runs while finishing a homer shy of the cycle. The three-time All-Star second baseman is batting .392 during an AL-best 23 game hitting streak.

“It was a strange game,” said Pedroia, who went 1 for 6 in Monday’s 3-1, 14-inning loss. “(Monday), we struggled to score one run for a long time. (Tuesday) was kind of different.”

Lackey (8-8, 6.28 ERA) needed a good deal of run support earlier in the season, but the right-hander has been much better lately.

He finds himself on the verge of a four-start win streak after limiting Seattle to one run and eight hits over seven innings of Friday’s 7-4 victory. Lackey won three consecutive outings June 5-17 only to lose his next three.

“I just think he needs to locate,” manager Terry Francona said. “When he doesn’t, he gives up hits. When he locates, he gets people out, I think it’s about as simple as that.”

While Lackey’s ERA ranks as the highest in all of baseball among pitchers with at least 90 innings, Francona remains confident in his ability to contribute from here on out.

“I know his ERA is higher I know what it is, and at the end of the year it’s probably going to be higher than we want it,” Francona said. “That doesn’t mean if he pitches like this the rest of the year it’s not huge for us. That’s what we’re kind of hanging our hat on and I think he is too. He has the ability to be a really good pitcher and shoulder a really big burden and it looks like he wants to do that.”

Lackey, who hasn’t faced the Royals since 2009, is 1-1 with a 1.48 ERA over his last four meetings with Kansas City.

Melky Cabrera, the only active Royal to have faced Lackey more than eight times, is 9 for 25 (.360) lifetime against him.

Kansas City, meanwhile, is counting on Bruce Chen (5-3, 3.30) to help the team rebound from Tuesday’s ugly effort on the mound.

Chen is coming off a dominating performance against the Chicago White Sox, yielding four hits and one run over a season best-tying eight innings of Wednesday’s 2-1, 11-inning win.

The left-hander is 0-3 with a 5.21 ERA over his last eight appearances - four starts - against the Red Sox, but he’s had Carl Crawford’s number over the years.

Crawford, 1 for 11 during the first two games of this series, is 4 for 23 (.174) with two homers lifetime against Chen. The Red Sox bats are just too hot to be stopped right now and they win again.

Play on the Boston Red Sox