Editor's note: the picks below are Vegas lines, not our own gut calls, and we've only got a sourced line on tonight's marquee game so far. Full slate is always live at watch.uristocrat.com.
Friday night in baseball means the best team in the sport hosting a team that's been playing better than its record all summer. The Dodgers roll into tonight at 69-40, the top record in MLB, and they've got the Red Sox in town for the first of three. Add a Yankees-Cubs day game at Wrigley, a Rangers-Astros AL West clash, and Caitlin Clark and the Fever on the road in Portland, and it's a busy one.
Marquee: Red Sox at Dodgers (10:10 PM ET, ESPN, MLB.TV)
This is Boston's first look at Los Angeles this season, and it opens with an odd wrinkle: the Dodgers haven't named a real starter. Edgardo Henriquez, a reliever with a 2.79 ERA in relief work, is opening, which likely means a full bullpen game for LA. Ranger Suarez takes the ball for the Red Sox in the first of three straight lefty starts Boston is rolling out this weekend. Suarez signed a five-year, $130 million deal with Boston in free agency this past January after years in Philadelphia, and he's been steady, 4-3 with a 3.02 ERA. The Dodgers are still favored even with a bullpen game on the mound, which tells you how much respect that lineup commands.
Vegas line (ESPN): Dodgers -125, Red Sox +103. Total 8.5. Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (+163), Red Sox +1.5 (-199).
Also tonight
- Yankees at Cubs (2:20 PM ET). A Wrigley day game between two teams within a game of each other in the standings. Shota Imanaga goes for Chicago against Will Warren, and both clubs are fighting to stay above .500 in a crowded field.
- Rangers at Astros (8:15 PM ET). An AL West game between two teams sitting right around .500, with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound for Texas against Hunter Brown. Every game like this matters in a division that's still up for grabs.
- Giants at Padres (9:45 PM ET). An NL West matchup with San Diego at 55-54 hosting a San Francisco club trying to climb back to .500. Apple TV has the national broadcast.
- Brewers at Angels (9:38 PM ET). Milwaukee is 67-41, the second-best record in baseball behind only the Dodgers, and travels to face a last-place Angels team. Shane Drohan starts for a Brewers club that's been the story of the NL Central all year.
- Fever at Fire (10:00 PM ET, ION). Caitlin Clark and Indiana are 18-10 and chasing playoff seeding, on the road against a Portland team still finding its footing in its expansion season.
Six games, four storylines: a superteam trying to prove a bullpen game doesn't matter, an AL West race that's still wide open, an NL West rivalry game, and a WNBA team built around the league's biggest draw. Check watch.uristocrat.com for the full slate and every tile.
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