The Red Sox and Rays open a weekend series tonight at Fenway Park. Tampa Bay takes the field playing as well as anyone in baseball while Boston is looking to build on their recently completed sweep of the Tigers in Detroit.
The Rays arrive in Boston having won 12 of their last 13 and allowing three runs or fewer in all 13, a franchise-record. Their bullpen has been especially sharp, extending a scoreless streak of over 17 innings and giving up just one run in the last 32 innings. With elite pitching, Tampa has not needed too much offense but they are hitting a respectable .254 as a team.
Boston, meanwhile, has shown signs of life since firing manager Alex Cora, going 6–4 over their last ten games including that sweep of Detroit. Rookie starter Jake Bennett gets the ball tonight. It is a small sample size but he has been impressive in limited action, posting a 1.80 ERA. The Red Sox offense came alive in Motown scoring 19 runs over the three games. Because the top of the American League East has been so dominant, though, the Sox still sit 8.5 games behind the Rays and a full nine games back of the first place Yankees.
Bennett will be opposed tonight by Tampa Bay’s Griffin Jax (1–2, 5.14 ERA). Jax has struggled out of the pen but when starting the proverbial bullpen game he has allowed but two hits and no runs (faced 16 batters). He has yet to pitch three full innings in any capacity this season.
Overall, the matchup tilts slightly toward Tampa Bay given their dominant pitching, superior record, and recent form, but Boston’s home-field advantage and improved play make this a more compelling matchup than it might have been ten days ago.
Lets dive into tonight’s matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Red Sox vs. Rays
- Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026
- Time: 7PM EST
- Site: Fenway Park
- City: Boston, MA
- Network/Streaming: ESPN
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The Latest Odds: Red Sox vs. Rays
The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Boston Red Sox (-115), Tampa Bay Rays (-105)
- Spread: Red Sox +1.5 (-186), Rays -1.5 (+153)
- Total: 8.5 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers: Red Sox vs. Rays
Pitching matchup for May 7:
- Red Sox: Jake Bennett
Season Totals: 5 IP, 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 3K, 2 BB - Rays: Griffin Jax
Season Totals: 14 IP, 1-2, 5.14 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 14K, 9 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Red Sox vs. Rays
- Trevor Story had his 6-game hitting streak snapped yesterday
- Willson Contreras is 1-11 over his last 3 games
- Junior Caminero is 4-18 (.222) in May
- Chandler Simpson has hit safely in 7 of his last 8 games (9-32)
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: Red Sox vs. Rays
- The Rays are 10-8 on the road this season
- The Red Sox are 6-10 at home this season
- The Rays are 23-13 on the Run Line this season
- The Red Sox are 13-24 on the Run Line this season
- The OVER has cashed 18 times in Boston games this season (18-18-1)
- The OVER has cashed 16 times in Rays’ games this season (16-17-3)
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions: Red Sox vs. Rays
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Red Sox and the Rays:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Rays on the Moneyline
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Run Line
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Game Total OVER 8.5 runs
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