<p>American League playoff contenders collide when the Red Sox and A's play a three-game weekend series out in Oakland beginning Friday night. Boston rides a seven-game winning streak into this series while the A's are struggling a bit as of late. Frankie Montas and his 4.72 ERA get the call for the home team here against lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and his 5.83 ERA for the visitors. Who do we like here for our free <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/free-mlb-picks&quot; title="Free Baseball Picks">MLB betting pick</a>? </p>
<h2>MLB Betting Odds</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/odds&quot; title="Compare MLB Betting Odds">Friday's baseball betting lines</a> opened Oakland at -125 over Boston, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Sharp betting action has pushed the Rewd Sox up to a samll --116 road favorite. </p>
<h2>Red Sox-A's MLB Betting Preview </h2>
<p>Boston just swept four games at home from Kansas City, winning Thursday's series finale 15-1. Just before that, the Red Sox swept three games at home from the Yankees. So Boston rides a seven-game winning streak into Friday night.
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<p>At 51-31 overall, the Sox lead the AL East by 3.5 games over second-place Tampa Bay, and they're two games up on Houston and the White Sox in the battle for the best record in the American League.
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<p>Boston is also playing way ahead of schedule against its season wins over/under of 80.5.
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<p>Oakland, meanwhile, just dropped two of three games at home to Texas, losing Thursday's series rubber match 8-3. Just before that, the A's lost two of three at San Francisco, and just before that, they split four games at Texas. Going back a bit further, Oakland is 0-3-1 over its last four series and 4-8 over its previous 12 games. </p>
<p>At 48-35 overall, the A's trail division-leading Houston by a game and a half in the AL West, but they're also tied with the Rays for the lead in the American League wild-card race. </p>
<p>Oakland is also playing ahead of schedule against its wins O/U of 86.5.</p>
<p>This series is the second meeting between these two teams this season; back in May, the A's took two of three games from the Sox at Fenway Park.</p>
<h2>Friday's Pitching Match-Up </h2>
<p>By our strict standards, <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/70849&quot; title="Frankie Montas Pitching Logs">Montas</a> is 5/16 on quality starts this season and nearly three for his last four. Last Saturday, he held San Francisco to two runs and two hits through five innings of a game. Oakland eventually lost 6-5. Just before that, he got clobbered by Texas for eight runs through 5 2/3 innings of another A's loss, but over his three starts previous to that, he allowed eight runs – seven earned – through 18 1/3 innings. So he's basically been decent four of his last five times out.</p>
<p>Oakland is 8-8 with Montas on the season, but that mark could easily be a game or two better.</p>
<p>In his only career start against Boston, back in 2019, Montas gave up seven runs in less than five innings of work, although only one of those runs was earned in a 9-4 A's defeat.</p>
<p>Lefty <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/69406&quot; title="Eduardo Rodriguez Pitching Logs">Rodriguez</a> is just 3/15 on quality starts this year and just one for his last 11. Last Sunday, he held the Yankees to two runs and five hits through six innings of a 9-2 Red Sox victory. But over his eight starts previous to that, he gave up 37 runs – 35 earned – and 54 hits through 39 2/3 innings.</p>
<p>The Sox are 10-5 with Rodriguez this season, but that's three or four games better than it should be.</p>
<p>In his most recent outing against Oakland, back on May 12 of this season, Rodriguez gave up four runs through six innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts, in a 4-1 Boston loss.</p>
<h2>Splits With the Sticks </h2>
<p>Boston is batting .260 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .323 team OBP and a .450 team slugging percentage. Numbers like those lead us to rank this lineup among the top half-dozen in Baseball in this split. </p>
<p>Oakland is slashing .235/.315/.402 against left-handed pitching this season.</p>
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<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1359476">BOS/OAK 7/2/21 Game Matchup Stats</a></span>
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<h2>The Bullpens </h2>
<p>The Red Sox bullpen owns a 4.05 ERA this season, along with a 1.39 WHIP and a 2.69 K/BB ratio.</p>
<p>The A's pen owns a 3.92 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a 3.04 K/BB ratio.</p>
<h2>MLB Betting Trends </h2>
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<li>The Red Sox are 24-14 on the road this season.</li>
<li>The A's are 26-20 at home this season.</li>
<li>The Red Sox are 34-20 against right-handed starters this season.</li>
<li>The A's are 21-11 against left-handed starters this season.</li>
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<h2>Totals Report</h2>
<p>Unders are 41-38 in Red Sox games this season.</p>
<p>Unders are 41-40 in A's games this season.</p>
<p>Overs are 25-21 in games played at Oakland Coliseum this season.</p>
<p>Overs are a combined 20-11 with Montas and Rodriguez this season.</p>