Baseball’s best rivalry will be on full display Sunday night as the Boston Red Sox (32-33) take on the New York Yankees (38-28) in a primetime matchup. New York will host this one at Yankee Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm ET.
After dropping the first game, the Yankees bounced back Saturday with a 3-1 victory. In the win, both Gleyber Torres and Willie Calhoun homered. Domingo German picked up his fourth win after firing six innings of one-run ball.
The Yankees are the favorites in this one playing at home. They are -124 to win, while Boston’s moneyline sits at +106. The runline features the Red Sox +1.5 (-182), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Red Sox Look To Move Back To .500
At 32-33, the Red Sox currently sit dead last in a loaded AL East, 14 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. On Sunday, they will look to steal the road series and move back to .500 overall.
On the mound for the Red Sox will be 24-year-old righty, Brayan Bello. In nine games, he is 3-4 with a 3.97 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and he has 46 strikeouts in 45.1 innings of work. He has taken losses in three straight starts, although he has given up just six earned runs over those 17 innings.
Offensively, the Red Sox rank sixth in the majors in scoring, averaging 4.98 runs per game (4.19 on the road). Leading the offense is Rafael Devers, who is hitting .247/.301/.498 with a team-leading 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in.
Keep an eye on first baseman Triston Casas and catcher Reese McGuire in this one. They only have a combined three at bats against the Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt, but they have hit two home runs off of him.
Yankees Know Every Win Matters
If the Yankees played in the Al Central, they would lead the division by five games. In the AL East, they sit in third, 8.5 games back despite being 10 games over .500 themselves. Knowing every win matters in the division, they will look to pick up the win at home, where they are 21-16 this season.
New York ranks 10th overall in scoring, averaging 4.60 runs per game. With Aaron Judge sidelined, Josh Donaldson has been the Yankees’ hottest hitter over the last couple weeks. In his last 23 at bats, he has four home runs.
Defensively, the Yankees have been solid. They currently rank sixth in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 3.95 runs per game.
In Sunday’s finale, manager Aaron Boone will send righty Clarke Schmidt to the bump. In 13 games, he is 2-6 with a 4.96 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and he has 66 strikeouts in 61.2 innings of work. In his last three outings, Schmidt has given up just four earned runs over 16.2 innings of work.
Take Yankees To Win Finale
Looking at the trends, the Red Sox are 2-6 in their last eight games and 1-7 in their last eight games against the Yankees. For New York, they are 7-1 in their last eight home games against the Red Sox.
Certainly, the offense is not nearly as potent with Aaron Judge out, but there is still enough thunder to put up some runs. Throw on top of that the fact that Clarke Schmidt has thrown decently in his last few starts and this feels like a game the Yankees should win at home.
Take New York to win straight up at -124.
