None of that is a surprise to the betting market, which has installed Boston as a heavy favorite here. The Red Sox price reflects a team that's been the best in baseball for weeks now, while Oakland's number reflects a club still searching for answers in the AL West basement.
The gap between these two right now isn't close. Boston has won 5 straight and, according to MLB.com, has taken 25 of its last 28 games under interim manager Chad Tracy — a run that's turned a fired-Alex-Cora disaster into legitimate playoff buzz. The Sox just finished stomping the White Sox by a combined score of 30-13 across 3 games, capped by a wild 12-11 slugfest. Oakland is the mirror image: 5 straight losses, and per Athletics Nation, the worst record in the sport since June 30 at 5-22. Manager Mark Kotsay has openly pointed to control problems and blown leads as the culprit, and Friday's lineup card does him no favors.
Fenway in August with a hot team and 86-degree, partly cloudy skies is about as good as it gets for a Friday night ballgame — even if the outcome feels like it's already been decided by the standings. Oakland's only real hope is that Perkins' strikeout stuff shows up before the walks and the barrels do, because right now this roster has nothing else to lean on.