Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox - 4/1/21 MLB Picks and Prediction

Boston Red Sox (0-0) vs Baltimore Orioles (0-0)

Game Info: Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 2:10 pm (Fenway Park)

Nathan Eovaldi (0-0) (0.00) vs John Means (0-0) (0.00)

Betting Odds: Boston Red Sox -171 / Baltimore Orioles +157 --- Over/Under: 9.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds

The Boston Red Sox will host the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park this Thursday in an Opening Day matchup between two division foes. The Red Sox won 2-0 when these two faced during spring training.

The Red Sox come into this game looking to get back on track after struggling to get going in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. They finished at the bottom of the AL East with a 24-36 record. As a team they finished 2020 with a .268 batting average, and .343 OBP. Boston had a solid spring, going 16-11 in Grapefruit league play. Jarren Duran led the team with a .340 batting average and 16 hits. Bobby Dalbec had a solid spring as well, hitting .298 with 7 home runs and a .787 slugging percentage. The Red Sox finished with 44 home runs, but ended up striking out on 28.5% of their at-bats.

Boston will send veteran Nathan Eovaldi to the mound in this matchup, after Eduardo Rodriguez was scratched with a dead arm. Eovaldi finished 2020 with a 4-2 record and 3.72 ERA. He had 52 strikeouts in 48.1 innings, and a WHIP of 1.2. Eovaldi finished spring training 1-0 with an ERA of 6.6. He had 7.8 K/9 and a WHIP of 1.6.

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The Baltimore Orioles will look to start strong on the road after finishing last season second to last in the AL East. They finished with a 25-35 record, missing the playoffs for the 4th straight season. As a team the Orioles finished 2020 with a .230 batting average, 116 runs, and .368 slugging percentage, all of which ranked in the bottom third of the league. They had a rough spring training, going 10-17 in Grapefruit league play. Austin Hayes led the team with a .392 batting average and .446 OBP. Ryan Mountcastle led the team with 4 HR and 13 RBI.

Baltimore will start lefty John Means against Boston. He finished 2020 with a 2-4 record and 4.53 ERA. He had 42 strikeouts and a .98 ERA. In spring training he had an 0-2 record, 1.42 WHIP and 7.11 ERA.

Both of these teams had very disappointing 2020 seasons, and will look to start 2021 heading in the right direction. Boston has been hitting the ball well this spring. The Orioles are sending out John Means, who has not looked good in spring training and had a subpar 2020. The Red Sox should be able to feast on Means and get out to an early lead. Eovaldi on the other hand is no sure thing, but he should be able to slow down this young Orioles line-up. Give me the Red Sox to open with a win at home.

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