Boston has the best offense in baseball. The Tigers carry a high bullpen fatigue rating. The two teams just played a 9-8 game last night. So naturally the oddsmaker is going to assign a high total to today's matchup.

But given the starting pitching matchup and circumstances, I don't see the final score adding up to double-digits.

Detroit starter Michael Fulmer had a hiccup in his last start allowing four runs in five innings against the White Sox. That's the highest number of runs Fulmer has given up in a game all season. Fulmer has been brilliant. That brilliance has shown on the road where he's 7-2 with a 2.80 ERA. Until his last outing, Fulmer hadn't surrendered more than two runs in 10 consecutive starts. The Red Sox have yet to face him giving Fulmer the advantage of surprise.

The Red Sox have a young pitcher going, too, Eduardo Rodriguez. He showed a lot of promise last season, but was hurt this season and needed to work out mechanical issues in the minors. This will be his third start since getting called up earlier this month. Rodriguez has yielded three runs in 12 1/3 innings during his last two starts. He struck out eight in 5 1/3 innings against the Twins during his last start.

Rodriguez beat the Tigers in his lone start against them. That was a year ago when he held them to one run. Veteran Brad Ziegler has shored up the Red Sox bullpen.

The weather forecast is for a slight wind, which will be blowing in. CB Bucknor is slated to be the home plate umpire. Bucknor has had more unders than overs in four of the last five seasons, including this year.