First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Pittsburgh +180, Boston -190, Total: 8.5

The Pirates will be hoping to avoid an 0-2 start when they face the Red Sox on Wednesday.

On Opening Day, the Red Sox beat the Pirates 5-3 with 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello on the mound. Pittsburgh stranded eight runners on base in that game, and the team is going to need to be a lot better on Wednesday. That could, however, be hard, as the Pirates are going to be facing LHP Chris Sale (17-10, 3.34 ERA, 233 K in 2016) in this one. Sale is making his Red Sox debut on Wednesday, and he is going to be amped up for this one. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will be tossing RHP Jameson Taillon (5-4, 3.38 ERA, 85 K in 2016) out on the hill for this game. Taillon carries some significant hype as well this season, as he was the second overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft. Taillon also flashed some impressive stuff in his rookie year last season. One interesting trend with Taillon is that the Pirates were 10-0 against the money line when the total was between 8 and 8.5 in Taillon’s starts last season. Pittsburgh is, however, just 35-45 against the money line when the total is between 8.5 and 10 over the past two seasons.

The Pirates did not play well on Opening Day and could use a victory on Wednesday. They’ll send Jameson Taillon to the mound in this one and the righty could be in for a solid outing. He’ll just need to make sure he keeps the ball down. If he hangs too many pitches then the Red Sox will take him yard. Taillon had three starts last year where he allowed more than one homer, and he’ll need to keep the ball in the park on Wednesday. Offensively, not many players on this Pittsburgh team have seen much of Sale in their careers. The two guys that should have a good shot at getting to the lefty are OFs Andrew McCutchen (.256 BA, 24 HR, 79 RBI in 2016) and Starling Marte (.311 BA, 9 HR, 46 RBI in 2016). Both of them bat righty, so they should have a nice view of Sale’s pitches coming in. Both guys are, however, coming off of rough Opening Day performances. They both went hitless in that game, and they’ll need to turn it around in this one.

The Red Sox are coming off of an impressive Opening Day victory, and OF Andrew Benintendi (.295 BA, 2 HR, 14 RBI) picked up right where he left off last season. Benintendi was excellent in his 34 games for the Sox in 2016, and he started the 2017 season off in a big way. The 22-year-old hit a three-run homer in that game and it should be the first of many big hits for the youngster. One guy that could be in for a big game on Wednesday is OF Mookie Betts (.318 BA, 31 HR, 113 RBI in 2016). Betts was ridiculous against righties last season, hitting .331 with 23 homers and 92 RBI against them. As for the pitching, Chris Sale should be able to do more of the same from his time with the White Sox. He is one of the best pitchers in the game and he should be able to put on a show at Fenway on Wednesday.