Free Pick | MLB | Tuesday | April 23

Nelly’s had a 2-0 Monday with MLB & NBA wins – check out guaranteed picks for Tuesday night:

#915 Boston Red Sox (Houck) -110 over Cleveland Guardians (Lively) 5:10 PM CT

Cleveland owns a commanding 16-6 record to take control of the AL Central, but the Guardians already have six wins vs. Oakland and have gone 4-1 vs. struggling AL Central squads Minnesota and Chicago. The Guardians did win three of four at Fenway last week, but one win went 11 innings, and another was a one-run result. Boston has had several empty offensive performances this season but a sweep in Pittsburgh has put the Red Sox at 13-10 with Boston scoring four or more runs now in seven of the past nine games. Both teams have good recent bullpen numbers, but Tanner Houck has been more impressive among today’s starters. His ERA is just 1.35 with a 2.04 WHIP and an amazing 14:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That includes nine strikeouts in a complete game vs. Cleveland last week. Ben Lively has bounced around significantly but ultimately has a 5.01 career ERA with an 8-18 record in 213 career MLB innings. His first start of 2024 was adequate taking the loss vs. Houck last week but he isn’t a candidate for a deep outing. Boston is the more patient lineup as Cleveland is taking few walks this season and Lively doesn’t have great strikeout potential with a career K/9 below 7.0. Boston was -130 in this matchup last week in a 2-0 win and the Red Sox are 10-3 on the road this season. Credit Cleveland for the best record and run differential in MLB right now but the schedule has played a significant role and Boston isn’t far behind despite facing a much tougher path at this point in the season.