The Boston Red Sox opened defense of their World Series title with a successful opening game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Sox trailed 1-0 early, but a two-run blast in the sixth inning by OF Jason Bay and a pair of runs in the ninth propelled Boston to a 4-1 victory to take the 1-0 lead in the best-of-five ALDS.
John Lester was fantastic, going seven strong innings, giving up just one unearned run to go with his seven strikeouts. John Lackey was a bit of a tough luck loser, as he only allowed the Bay two-run dinger over 6.2 innings. Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in the 9th to record his fifth career playoff save. He has now thrown 15.2 scoreless innings in his career in the postseason.
Online sports betting Red Sox fans picked up a nice victory in Game 1 as +130 underdogs, while those who wagered on the ‘under’ cashed an easy winner.
Playoff baseball of late may as well just be renamed “Soxtober.” The Red Sox have owned Anaheim, winning ten straight playoff games against the Halos. As if things could get no worse for the Angels, RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka will be on the hill on Friday. “Dice-K” has a legitimate claim to the AL Cy Young Award, as he won 18 games in just 29 starts. The righty went 18-3 overall, but perhaps even more impressive was Boston’s 23-6 record in his starts.
After struggling with a 4.40 ERA in ’07, Matsuzaka fired back by posting a 2.90 ERA, the seventh best mark in the majors. MLB bettors who backed the Red Sox with “Dice-K” on the mound earned a sparkling profit of $1,353, only behind Cliff Lee in the American League. ‘Under’ bettors also had a field day betting when Matsuzaka was on the hill, going 17-10-4. Though he never got through the 6th inning in any of his playoff starts last season, the Sox went 3-1 with Matsuzaka on the mound.
Even though the Angels had the best road record in baseball, Friday night’s game is likely a must-win, as they have little chance of coming back from down 0-2 to Boston. Manager Mike Scioscia will send RHP Ervin Santana to the hill. Santana was 4th in the majors with 214 strikeouts. He went 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA for the Halos this season, and was a big part of the 100 wins on the season. Angels bettors were winners on the season, but they probably expected better than the +$77 he managed on the year. His WHIP of 1.12 was the lowest of his young career, and the sixth best mark in baseball.
Santana only has one prior postseason outing, giving up five runs in 4.1 innings in 2005 against the White Sox. He hasn’t had much more luck against Boston either. Santana is 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA against the Beantown Bombers in four career outings.
Oddsmakers installed the Halos as slender -130 home favorites in this baseball betting match-up. BetUS Sportsbook currently has the ‘total’ lined at 8 under -120. With their 1-0 series lead, the Sox are -200 favorites to move onto the ALCS. Whether you prefer betting sides, ‘totals’, run-lines, or propositions, BetUS has all the action covered, so be sure to login to your account and get your MLB wagers down before the first pitch.