MLB ALCS Game 5 Betting - Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox

The 2008 Boston Red Sox after losing Games 2, 3, and 4 by a combined score of 31-13.

Boston’s now on the brink of elimination, and for Rays manager Joe Maddon who coined “9=8” at the start of the season, nine is about set to equal two. That’s not bad for a club that was picked to win 74 games by the oddsmakers and was 150-1 to win the World Series at the start of the season.

The 13-4 loss in Game 4 might’ve proved to be the final crippling blow that the Red Sox could endure from the upstart Rays. Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, and Willie Aybar all went yard off of Boston starting pitcher Tim Wakefield.

The knuckler only lasted 2 1/3rd innings, giving up five runs and effectively ending any hopes of Boston tying up the series. Andy Sonnanstine was effective for Tampa Bay, giving up three earned runs in 7 1/3rd innings, notching his second victory of the postseason.

Maddon was originally slated to send James Shields to the mound for the potential close out game in this series, but has changed his mind and will send LHP Scott Kazmir to the bump instead. The lefty has been the only pitcher to struggle on the Rays staff in this series, as he gave up five earned runs in 4.1 innings in Game 2. In 27 regular season starts, Kaz had a 3.49 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, going 12-8 in the process. He held batters to a career-best .220. Tampa Bay bettors earned $905 in his starts this year.

Boston will hope to keep their season alive when RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka heads to the mound. Dice-K dominated the Rays in Game 1 of this series, tossing seven shutout innings and getting the only Red Sox ‘W’ thus far in the series. Boston proved victorious in 10 of his L/12 trips to the bump, a big reason the Red Sox successfully earned a spot in the second season. After being amongst the worst 20 pitchers for baseball bettors in MLB last season, Dice-K responded by going 18-3 in 29 starts, winning $1,353 in the process.

Tampa Bay might’ve only gone 2-7 at Fenway Park in the regular season, but it’s now 2-0 in the playoffs. Oddsmakers installed the BoSox -150 favorites with the ‘total’ currently sitting at 9 under -120. The Rays have at least matched that in each of the L/3 games, all of which have resulted in victories for ‘over’ bettors.

All of the great BetUS Sportsbook, whether you prefer wagering on the moneyline, runline, ‘total’ or propositions.

Will this year’s Fall Classic be called the World Se-Rays, or does Boston have one more magical run left? Place your baseball bets and turn the tube to TBS on Thursday night to find out!