Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins May 26 Free Pick

By MLB

It’s been hard enough for the Red Sox to get one win these days. So when Boston came into Minnesota on Monday night, riding the momentum of consecutive wins, hopes were high that the Sox could put together three in a row and put a May full of sputtering behind them.

Unfortunately for Sox Nation, Joe Kelly couldn’t get it done on Monday and the Twins blew the game open early en route to a 7-2 win. With the possibility of a real winning streak over for the time being, Boston focuses on getting back into the series and getting win number one at Target Field. Clay Buchholz takes his turn on the mound against Minnesota’s veteran right-hander Mike Pelfrey.

Free Pick

We’ve played one Buchholz game this year and pushed it earlier in the month when the Sox and Jays couldn’t quite push the game over in the late innings. My view of Buchholz was pessimistic then, going up against a powerful (and familiar) offense and coming off a terrible start in New York and an up and down start to the season overall. But I’m not one to hop onto the Sox’s mystifying ace as quickly as some. Buchholz has pitched pretty well this year, beyond the numbers, as communicated in this article. He’s throwing strikes at his usually high rate and getting more swings and misses than he ever has before in a career that’s seen some awfully high levels of success. After a frustrating loss last night, Boston needs him to be good on Tuesday and I like his chances against an offense that shouldn’t really do much scaring.sbl

In the other dugout, Mike Pelfrey takes the mound for Minnesota. I’m not really concerned with Pelfrey’s numbers this year, which are pretty decent so far, because everyone knows what type of pitcher the guy is. He’ll throw strikes and give his team a chance to win with average stuff and good command. He’s not going to fool many hitters and certainly shouldn’t shut down the Red Sox offense that has yet to really come together now two months into the season. Something about this matchup tells me Tuesday could be one of the first real high-scoring outputs for Boston’s lineup this season. We’ll see if the bats made it to Minnesota, but I’m taking the Sox on the road.

Free Pick: Boston -130

YTD: 5-2-2 +2.73

2014: 45-28-3 +9.02


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