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Carrie Stroup here with your ESPN baseball betting for June 11, 2012 – the Red Sox vs. Marlins game. You can find all the latest baseball betting lines here at Sportsbook, where qualified customers receive up to $250 in FREE CASH here.
Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Miami -107 & 7.5 flat
The NBA Eastern Conference Finals may have ended this weekend, but Miami and Boston will now square off on the baseball diamond for a three-game series as MLB interleague play continues.
The Marlins enter this game amid a serious funk, the losers of six games in a row with consecutive sweeps to the Braves and Rays. The Red Sox are not much better, having lost six of their past seven contests, and having just got swept in a three-game home set by the Nationals. Josh Beckett takes the hill for Boston, facing his former team for the first time in his career. Despite struggles to start the year and a current 4.04 ERA, Beckett has a 1.16 WHIP for the season and has not given up a home run in five consecutive starts. In those starts he has gone at least seven innings every time, tallying a 2.21 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and a 25-to-5 K-to-BB ratio. Johnson is 3-4 on the season with a 4.56 ERA. He has looked better as of late however, with six consecutive starts of allowing three runs or less. But the Red Sox are a better team on the road with a 15-12 away mark this season, and Miami’s offense has scored a meager 10 runs during its six-game slide.
The Red Sox sport a solid offense behind Beckett, averaging 5.0 runs per game against righty starters with a solid .277 batting average. They have put up 5.1 runs per game on the road with a stellar .446 slugging percentage outside of Fenway Park (2nd in majors). In the past 10 away games, Boston is 7-3 with 19 homers, hitting at least one longball in each contest. Additionally the Sox have a strong bullpen to support Beckett, as their relievers have compiled a 3.55 ERA on the season, including an outstanding 2.88 ERA on the road. In these away games, the bullpen has a 1.17 WHIP, 11 saves and just two blown opportunities.
Miami averages just 3.6 runs per game against right-handed starters with a meager .247 batting average and .315 on-base percentage. And the Marlins bullpen has struggled this season, especially at home, where it has a 4.87 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. Johnson has faced Boston once in his career, back in 2006, when he allowed three runs (all solo homers) on four hits and four walks in seven innings. Johnson has looked far better in his past six starts, in which he has a 2.95 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, and will not bow out of this game easily. But he may just not get the run support, especially facing Beckett in this contest. Miami is batting a pathetic .197 with a .316 slugging percentage during its six-game losing skid.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
