Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox Prediction, 7/18/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox

Date: Saturday, July 18, 2026

Location: Fenway Park in Boston, MA

TV: NESN

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (+132) Boston (-160)

Fenway Park is where the Boston Red Sox (46-48) will attempt to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays (56-38) on Saturday. The moneyline on this game has Tampa Bay at +132 while Boston opens at -160. The over/under is set at 9. The starting pitchers are Ian Seymour and Patrick Sandoval.

As a team, the Tampa Bay Rays are scoring 4.5 runs per game, which is 15th in MLB. They have earned a total of 425 runs and hold an OBP of .334. The Rays have hit 133 two-baggers as a unit and have hit 94 balls out of the stadium. They have 404 runs batted in and 811 base knocks for the season, and their team batting average comes in at .259. Tampa Bay has a slugging % of .401 and have been called out on strikes 672 times, while drawing a walk on 329 occasions.

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Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 3.02 and their pitching staff sits with a WHIP of 1.17. Rays pitchers have surrendered 118 home runs and 393 runs (9th in the league). Tampa Bay has surrendered 732 base hits (7.9 per 9 innings) and also 354 earned runs. The Rays hold a team ERA of 3.80 this season (9th in baseball), and their staff has rung up 762 batters. They have walked 252 opposing batters and their FIP comes in at 4.13 as a squad for the year.

The Rays have dispatched 299 relief pitchers to the mound on the season. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 113 base runners so far this year with 26.5% of those runners crossing the plate. The relievers have earned 73 holds over the course of the season (2nd in baseball). Rays bullpen pitchers have come into the game with runners on base 78 times and also have had 93 appearances in high leverage situations. They have tallied 37 saves over the course of the season and have blown 13 out of their 50 save opportunities. The Rays relief pitchers have recorded a save rate of 74.0% and have come into the game in 123 save situations.

The Rays have transformed 71.8% of balls in play into outs out of 7,551 innings, which has them ranked 2nd in baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays have 2,517 putouts so far this season, in addition to 759 assists and 57 errors. Their fielding rate is at .983 which has them sitting 24th in pro baseball, and have a total of 64 double plays.

Seymour (10-5 career win-loss mark) has a FIP of 4.10 while he has gone up against 512 hitters during his time in the major leagues. He has allowed 99 base hits (7.4 hits per nine innings) and has had 43 walks. His earned run average is 4.16 (56 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.172. Seymour has thrown 121 innings and has accumulated 139 K's during his career.

Boston has hit 85 home runs over the course of the season as well as 368 runs batted in. They have tallied 165 doubles, while taking a walk 286 times and scoring 385 runs. The Boston Red Sox have earned an on-base percentage of .314 and a team batting average of .243 for the season. The Red Sox have a SLG% of .387 and they average 4.10 runs per contest (25th in the league). They have struck out on 775 occasions (23rd in baseball) and have earned 764 base hits.

The Boston pitching staff have relinquished 358 runs on the campaign while holding an ERA of 3.59 (332 earned runs surrendered). They have yielded 96 HR's and they yield 3.87 runs per 9 innings (3rd in MLB). The Red Sox have a team WHIP of 1.223 and have a FIP of 3.78 as a team on the year. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 8.70 (802 strikeouts vs 273 bases on balls). They come in at 8th in baseball as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 745.

Boston relievers hold an inherited score percentage of 32.1% of 112 inherited runners. Their relievers have come in 79 times in high leverage situations in addition to 78 occasions with base runners. Sitting with 88 save situations, the Red Sox have compiled 55 holds in addition to 9 blown saves. They rank 9th in MLB with a save percentage of 71.0%, and they have dispatched 289 relief pitchers to the mound so far this year.

Out of their 7,491 innings on the diamond, the Red Sox have earned a defensive efficiency of 70.3% (14th in MLB). The Boston Red Sox have turned 62 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .988 (7th in pro baseball). The Red Sox have recorded 794 assists, 41 errors and have a tally of 2,497 putouts on the season.

Sandoval (19-45 win-loss mark in his career) holds a 4.00 earned run average and has surrendered 8.6 hits per 9 innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 2.25 and he has gone up against 2,353 batters in his MLB career. He has given up 240 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.392 and a FIP of 3.9. During his pro baseball career, Sandoval has surrendered 515 base hits while totaling 534 K's in 540 frames.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (+132)

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