First pitch: Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Line: Boston +100, St. Louis -110, Total: 8.0

The Cardinals will be going for their ninth win in 10 games when they host the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Boston will be hoping to win its third game in five contests on Tuesday, but that is not going to be easy against a red-hot St. Louis squad. The Cardinals are playing like one of the best teams in baseball right now, as they have now won eight of their past nine games. Their pitching has been absurd recently, allowing only six runs total in the past three contests. They have also been good offensively, racking up double digits in hits in seven of their past 10 games. The starters in this matchup on Tuesday are going to be LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-1, 2.80 ERA, 42 K) for Boston and RHP Lance Lynn (4-1, 2.75 ERA, 36 K) for St. Louis. Both guys have pitched very well this season, so it wouldn’t be too shocking if this game went Under the total. One trend that doesn’t work in Boston’s favor is that the team is just 2-8 against the money line in road games with a line of +125 to -125. The Sox are, however, an impressive 8-2 against the money line over the past three seasons when coming off a loss by six runs or more versus a division rival.

Eduardo Rodriguez is on the mound for the Red Sox tonight, and the lefty has been dealing this season. In his past four starts, Rodriguez has allowed a total of five earned runs in 24 innings of work. He has given the Red Sox a quality start in each of those games, and it’d be big if he can do that once again on Tuesday. It won’t be easy, though. He’s facing a dangerous Cardinals lineup that knows how to make good contact with the ball. That means that if Rodriguez isn’t missing bats then he might get beat up a bit here. Offensively, one guy that must come through for the Sox is OF Mookie Betts (.296 BA, 6 HR, 25 RBI). Betts has gone hitless in two of the past three games, and Boston lost both of those games. He is far too important to this team to not show up, so he’ll need to find a way to produce on Tuesday. One guy that has been reliable for this team is SS Xander Bogaerts (.339 BA, 0 HR, 11 RBI). The shortstop has doubled in six of his past eight games, which is an impressive number. He’ll hope to do it again on Tuesday.

The Cardinals are on fire right now and will be sending Lance Lynn to the mound to keep it going. Lynn got banged around a bit in his last start, allowing four earned runs in just four innings of work. He walked four batters in that game against the Marlins, and he also let up two homers. If he can’t avoid making that many mistakes again on Tuesday then the Cardinals are likely going to drop this one at home. Two guys that will need to show up offensively for St. Louis are 3B Jedd Gyorko (.333 BA, 7 HR, 18 RBI) and C Yadier Molina (.270 BA, 3 HR, 14 RBI). Both guys are playing pretty well this season, and they need to produce in this one as well.