New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox Betting Preview
Sunday Night Baseball will feature one of the best rivalries in all of sports as the New York Yankees (72-42) take on the Boston Red Sox (56-59). The Red Sox will host this one at Fenway Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:08 pm ET.
After losing to the Red Sox 3-2 on Friday, the Yankees won Saturday’s contest by the exact same score. After Frankie Montas pitched five innings, allowing two runs, Aroldis Chapman would eventually be credited with the win after pitching 1.1 scoreless innings.
Offensively, Isaiah Kiner-Falefa went three for four with a home run and three runs batted in. Aside from him, the rest of the Yankees managed just three hits.
John Schreiber took the loss for Boston in relief. He allowed just a single run over two innings. Kutter Crawford had started for the Red Sox, allowing two runs over six innings.
The Red Sox had eight hits on the night, with Alex Verdugo and Reese McGuire both accounting for two of them. McGuire and Jarron Duran had the lone runs batted in for Boston.
The Yankees are the favorites Sunday night despite playing on the road. They are -134 to win while the Red Sox moneyline sits at +114. The runline features Boston +1.5 (-146), and the over/under for total runs is nine.
Yankees Trying To Get Back On Track
Despite their win on Saturday, the New York Yankees have lost eight of their last ten games coming into play Sunday. While they still lead the AL East by a healthy ten games, they now trail the Houston Astros by 1.5 games for the best record in the American League.
Trying to get back on track, the Yankees will look to take the finale at Fenway park from their bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox. This season, New York is 31-27 when playing away from Yankee Stadium.
Taking the mound for the finale is righty Jameson Taillon. In 22 games this season, he is 11-2 with a 3.95 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and he has 104 strikeouts in 120.2 innings.
Taillon picked up the win in his last start against the Mariners. In the victory, he allowed three runs over seven innings while striking out six. Walks have been a bit of an issue for him lately, as he has seven in his last 11.2 innings pitched.
Offensively, there is a reason that Aaron Judge has the best odds to win the AL MVP (-650). On the season, he is hitting .303/.401/.684 with 46 home runs, 100 runs batted in, 96 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases.
Against the Red Sox Michael Wacha, keep an eye on first baseman Anthony Rizzo. In 47 at bats against the righty, he is hitting .447 with three home runs and seven runs batted in.
Red Sox Trying To Stay In Contention
At 56-59, it has been a disappointing season for the Boston Red Sox. They sit dead last in the AL East, 16.5 games behind the Yankees. Still, only 4.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot, the Red Sox have enough time to make a run at the postseason.
Obviously, they will have to play much better over the last third of the season. That includes at Fenway Park, where they are a disappointing 28-30 on the season.
Alex Cora will give the ball to veteran righty Michael Wacha in the series finale. In 13 games this season, Wacha is 6-1 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and he has 50 strikeouts in 70.1 innings.
This will be the first time that Wacha has taken the mound since June 28 as he was sidelined with a shoulder injury, but he may not be on a pitch limit as he threw just shy of 80 pitches in his last rehab outing.
Several of Boston’s players have had success against Taillon, albeit in limited at bats. Xander Bogaerts (.294), Rafael Devers (.250, HR, 4 RBI), J.D. Martinez (.300, HR, 2 RBI), and Yolmer Sanchez (.333, HR, RBI) are just a few that have had success against the righty.
Take Red Sox On The Runline
If the first two games of this series have taught us anything, it is that when the Yankees and Red Sox matchup, you can usually throw the records out the window. Despite being separated by over 16 games in the standings, each of the first two games have been decided by just one run.
With the unknown of how Michael Wacha will return from injury, the Yankees probably have the advantage on the mound, but it still wouldn’t be shocking to see this one stay close throughout again, especially with the inconsistency the Yankees have played with as of late.
In fact, in their last ten games, the Yankees are 2-8. In their last 17 road games, they are just 4-13.
With all of that in mind, the safest play in this one is probably to take the runline. In this case, that means taking Boston +1.5 (-146).
