Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Betting Preview
The season’s first Sunday Night Baseball features one of the best rivalries in all of baseball as the Boston Red Sox (0-2) square off with the New York Yankees (2-0). The Yankees will host this one at Yankees Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:08 pm ET.
The Yankees have taken the first two games of this series, including a 4-2 win on Saturday.
Boston took the lead on an Alex Verdugo two-run home run in the second inning Saturday, but it was all New York after that. Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton hit a pair of two-run bombs to propel the Yankees to victory.
Nick Pivetta took the loss for Boston after giving up all four runs over 5.2 innings. He struck out four and walked three.
After Luis Severino gave up two runs in three innings, the Yankees bullpen went six hitless innings, striking out seven.
The Yankees are the slight favorites playing at home Sunday. They are -142 to win while the Red Sox moneyline sits at +120. The spread features Boston +1.5 (-164), and the over/under for total runs is nine.
Pitching Matchup
Boston will send righty Tanner Houck to the mound to make his season debut against the Yankees’ southpaw, Jordan Montgomery.
Last season, Houck went 1-5 with a 3.52 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 87 strikeouts in 69 innings. He pitched in 18 games (13 starts) in 2021.
Montgomery made 30 starts for the Yankees last year, going 6-7 with a 3.83 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and had 162 strikeouts in 157.1 innings.
Red Sox Look To Avoid The Sweep
Last season, the Red Sox finished with a winning record over the New York Yankees as they went 11-9 against them overall. Despite the success, the Yankees won six of the last seven and have now won seven straight games against Boston at Yankees Stadium. On Sunday, the Red Sox hope to end that streak.
Up and down the lineup, there are several players who have had success against Jordan Montgomery in their careers. In fact, there are five players hitting .333 or better against the lefty in their careers.
Christian Arroyo (2), Christian Vazquez (2), and Rafael Devers (1) have all homered off of him, while Xander Bogaerts is hitting .462 against the lefty in 26 at bats.
Last season, Devers was the Red Sox’s most feared hitter after he produced a .279/.352/.538 line with 38 home runs, 113 runs batted in, and 101 runs scored.
Yankees Look To Stay Solid At Home
In 2021, the Yankees played well regardless of where they played. They had an identical record of 46-35 at home and away from Yankees Stadium. On Sunday, they will look to stay solid at home by starting the season off with a sweep of their biggest rivals.
The Yankees have had far less success in their careers against Houck. Joey Gallo, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu, and Aaron Judge are a combined 0 for 15 against him.
Through the first two games of this series, Anthony Rizzo and Stanton have flexed their muscles. While they both only have two hits apiece, each of them have two home runs and a combined seven runs batted in.
Josh Donaldson has made a strong impression in his first season as a Yankee. He leads the team with a .300 batting average in the first series.
Take The Red Sox +1.5
While both of these offenses have the ability to put up big numbers, that doesn’t tend to be the trend when they square off with one another. In their last 13 matchups, the under has hit in nine of them.
With runs sometimes coming at a premium, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Sunday’s game be close throughout, much like the first two games of the season.
For that reason, the most value is in the runline. Take Boston +1.5 runs (-164).
