Chowder and Champions’ Best Boston Bets for 8/8 (Red Sox Down Royals Again)

The Red Sox are coming off an exhilarating win on Monday. They’ll look to keep the momentum rolling today, while we’re targeting other AL East action for value as well.

With that in mind, here are our editors’ best Boston betting picks for Aug. 8.

Best Boston Betting Picks: August 8

Tyler Maher: Red Sox Runline vs. Royals

The Red Sox bounced back from a depressing weekend at Fenway Park with a galvanizing win over the Royals on Monday. Pablo Reyes was the hero with his walk-off grand slam, snapping Boston’s four-game losing streak.

The Red Sox will try to build on that behind Kutter Crawford on Tuesday. Crawford’s been a savior for Boston’s rotation this summer, going 5-5 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He’s been even better lately, too, with a 2.18 ERA and a 3.32 FIP over his last four starts.

Meanwhile, Brady Singer’s been a massive disappointment for Kansas City. The 2022 breakout has regressed hard in 2023, going 7-8 with a career-worst 5.10 ERA. He’s been pitching a bit better lately, but the Red Sox offense has to like its chances against him.

This is just a great matchup for Boston in general. The Royals have the second-worst record in baseball and have been terrible against the runline all season, going 44-70 overall and 21-36 on the road.

After getting a much-needed win yesterday, the Red Sox are worth backing again on the runline today.

Isaiah De Los Santos: Touki Toussaint Strikeouts OVER

The Yankees got absolutely handled by a White Sox team plagued by drama and infighting on Monday, which just speaks to the former’s struggles right now. Following the first game of the series, I’m doubling down on New York to underwhelm at the plate.

The Yanks managed just 1 run on Monday with 6 hits, and their plate discipline was a big reason why. New York batters struck out 12 times against Chicago in the series opener and have been one of the biggest strikeouts offenders all season, ranking No. 9 in K’s per game.

Now they’ll have to face the hard-throwing Touki Toussaint. The righty is feeling it right now after his last start, where he racked up 9 K’s in just 5 1/3 innings. Toussaint’s pitched extremely well in a limited sample size at home this year, too, posting a minuscule 1.20 ERA across four appearances.

Considering the Yankees’ penchant for striking out, I love taking a chance on Toussaint to go over his K total tonight.

Jason Schandl: Blue Jays-Guardians UNDER

One of the AL East’s easiest betting trends continued to come through for us yesterday. The Blue Jays hit the Under at the third-highest rate in MLB (57.4%). They obviously aren’t among the worst offenses in the majors, but when we’re looking at betting trends it’s more about how they play relative to expectations, and that’s where they usually fall short.

It also doesn’t hurt that they’re playing one of the only teams that’s been more under-heavy this season, with the Guardians’ 58.3% under rate being the highest mark in the majors.

Yusei Kikuchi isn’t exactly lights-out for Toronto, but he’s doing some of the best work of his career with a personal-best 4.01 SIERA backing his 3.67 ERA.

He’s also been particularly good since the All-Star break, not allowing more than 1 earned run in any of his last four starts while posting a 1.23 ERA in that stretch.

Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee is also having a strong rookie season on the mound, and the underwhelming Guardians offense is even less intimidating with Jose Ramirez serving a suspension.

Nothing about this matchup points to the season-long trends being overcome, so I’m happy to go back to the well here.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.