10* Tampa Bay (7:05 ET): This is a revenge spot for the Rays, who were swept up in Boston very early in the season. Despite that - and a current six-game losing streak - I believe TB to be the better of these two AL East clubs. As many of you already know, I lean heavily on run differential and in this area the Rays are significantly more dominant than the Red Sox. They have outscored opponents by 77 runs this season, fifth best in all of MLB, while Boston is only +34. Not only is that not the best run diff in the AL East, it’s actually third, also trailing Toronto. I think things set up well for a Tampa turnaround on Tuesday.

It was certainly quite shocking to see the Rays get swept in a four-game series out in Seattle over the weekend. I consider them to be much better than the Mariners and even took them twice (Saturday & Sunday). Both times I took TB they ended up losing in extra innings. That was in addition to dropping the series opener by one run when Seattle scored two in the bottom of the ninth. The good news though is that Boston didn’t do much better over the weekend, dropping two of three in Kansas City. So it’s only a one-half game deficit that the Rays face coming into this big series.

The big news on Tuesday is that Wander Franco, MLB.com’s #1 rated prospect, is set to make his big league debut for the Rays. Look for Franco to have an immediate impact on a lineup that has been struggling of late. He hit .315 this year down in Durham and .332 across his entire career in the minors. Eduardo Rodriguez is the starter for Boston and while the Red Sox are 3-0 his L3 starts, Rodriguez has posted an 8.36 ERA and 1.571 WHIP. He actually hasn’t won a decision since May 7th and has allowed 4+ runs in 6 of his L7 starts. His 5.44 career ERA vs. Tampa is his third highest vs. any AL opponent. For the Rays, expect the duo of Andrew Kittredge (likely opener) and Ryan Yarbrough to get the job done. 10* Tampa Bay