Thursday is the start of a four-game weekend set featuring one of the best rivalries of all time, as the New York Yankees travel to Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox. While most years, this rivalry is heavily contested, so far in 2019 it has not been. The Yankees have won six of the seven games these two teams have played this season.
However, the Red Sox aren’t the same team they were earlier in the season. They have really turned it up this month, going 12-6 in July and sticking around the playoff picture. However, the Yankees have gone 12-7 in July and are still one of, if not the, best team in all of baseball. They have won 66 games already and hold a TEN-game lead in the American League East.
Probable Pitchers
For the Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka will take the hill for his 21st start of the season. So far in 2019, he is 7-5 with a 4.00 earned run average. Tanaka has been on a roll of sorts recently, as he hasn’t taken a loss in his last eight starts. The beautiful thing about this Yankees team is their offense is savage enough to bail Tanaka out of bad starts along this stretch, including a 2/3-inning start where he gave up six runs.
One thing that has always plagued Tanaka in his career, and continues to in 2019, is the home run ball. He has given up a home run in every start this season except for five. That could spell good things for the Red Sox, who are 11th in the league in home runs.
For the Red Sox, Rick Porcello will get the ball for his 21st start of the season as well. Porcello is not having the season that Boston fans have gotten used to seeing from the former first-round pick. Just a few years removed from winning the Cy Young, and just a year after going 17-7, Porcello has an earned run average near six. Even when Porcello is getting a win, it’s never easy for the Sox offense.
Porcello’s last three starts have all been wins, but he has given up a combined 16 runs in those starts. He has gotten incredibly lucky, not to mention the disastrous start in London where he got a no-decision. Porcello has eight wins on the season, and only three of them have been quality starts.
Batters To Watch
After missing a good chunk of the start of the season, it looks like the normal Didi Gregorious has finally arrived. He’s had a two-game stretch of historic proportions, going 8-11 with a home run, three doubles, a triple and TEN runs batted in. In 45 plate appearances on the road against righties, he is batting .444 with three home runs.
Expectations were sky-high for Mookie Betts after an insane 2018. And while he has mildly disappointed this year, he is still batting .281 with 15 home runs. July has been his month, however, as he has a hit in 16 of the 19 games so far.
The Pick
The Yankees just scored 26 runs in three games against Minnesota. Even with the Twins having a top-10 team ERA, New York scorched them. The Red Sox have a team ERA of 4.66, and Porcello’s 5.61 and career-low K/9 don’t really stand a chance. Take the Yankees.
