Chris Sale is back in action against his old team and I expect him to shove.

The pregame narrative: Sale's Atlanta Braves host the Boston Red Sox and a pitcher's duel should keep scoring low through the first five innings. Elsewhere, the Arizona Diamondbacks are a good bet to beat the Cincinnati Reds and the Tampa Bay Rays are worth fading with Aaron Civale pitching.

Check out my MLB parlay picks for May 8.

MLB parlay picks

Parlay: Red Sox/Braves u4.5 F5 runs + Diamondbacks moneyline + White Sox +2.5 (+430)

Red Sox/Braves u4.5 F5 runs (-110): Sale spent seven years with the Red Sox, earning Cy Young votes in multiple campaigns and winning the World Series in 2018.

Injuries derailed the latter years of his tenure in Boston but now he's in Atlanta and looks good.

The southpaw has a 3.44 ERA over 36.1 innings to pair with a 0.95 WHIP (10th in MLB). But advanced metrics suggest Sale's been even better. His 2.81 xERA ranks in the 83rd percentile of all pitchers, per Baseball Savant.

Sale has given up just two earned runs in his last two starts (12.0 IP) while striking out 15.

Boston will be countering with Nick Pivetta, who's being activated from the 15-day IL. The Canadian was stellar before getting injured, allowing one run in two starts while fanning 13 in 11.0 IP.

Other picks

Diamondbacks moneyline (-118): The reigning NL champions are off to a slow start but shouldn't have a hard time winning tonight.

Jordan Montgomery is on the mound for the Diamondbacks and I expect him to throw a gem. The lefty got rocked by the Los Angeles Dodgers his last time out — but who doesn't?

He had a 2.77 ERA in two starts before that and a 3.20 ERA in 188.2 IP last year.

The Reds struggle to hit lefties, ranking 26th in batting average (.208) and 24th in wRC+ (80) versus southpaws.

Cincinnati will start Graham Ashcraft and I'm not sold on the 26-year-old. He has a 3.63 ERA in six starts this year but his 4.03 xERA and .256 xBA are less flattering.

Ashcraft had a 4.76 ERA in 2023.

White Sox +2.5 (-200): The Chicago White Sox are typically worth fading, but that's not the case tonight.

Civale starts for the Rays and he's been nothing short of terrible.

The righty has a 6.14 ERA and has given up 18 earned runs in his last three starts (13.2 IP). That includes an outing against the White Sox where he allowed eight hits and six earned runs in 4.1 IP.

Tampa Bay has failed to cover this number six of his seven starts.

Chicago counters with Chris Flexen who threw five shutout innings against Tampa on April 26.

Picks made at 10:39 a.m. on 05/08/24.