The Boston Red Sox have taken over the top spot in the American League wild card race with a 7-0 record over their last seven games. The Red Sox will try to hold on to their place in the standings in a key three-game series against the New York Yankees starting this Friday night in Boston.
- Date/Time: September 24, 7:10 p.m. ET
- Stadium: Fenway Park
- TV Coverage: ESPN
- Sportsbook Odds: Yankees -115 | O/U 9 runs (Line History)
- Yankees vs Red Sox Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The Yankees opened as -115 road favorites in this matchup and have settled in at New York -118. Boston is a +108 home underdog and the total in this series opener is set at nine runs. The Red Sox are 5-3 in their last eight games as a home dog.
Starting Pitchers Analysis
Gerrit Cole got lit up for 10 hits and seven earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched in his last outing against the Cleveland Indians. Before that hiccup, Cole had recorded a 1.35 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP with 48 strikeouts over his previous six starts. The Yankees’ ace carries a 3.03 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP into Friday’s matchup.
Nathan Eovaldi has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last eight starts, driving his ERA on the season down from 4.07 to 3.58. The Red Sox are 7-1 over that stretch including a current run of six straight wins in Eovaldi’s last six starts. Eovaldi his compiled a 2.87 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP in 69 career innings against the Yankees.
New York News & Notes
The streaky Yankees appear to be going back in the right direction after completing a three-game sweep over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night. New York has now gone 8-4 over its last 12 games after going 3-12 over its previous 15 games and 13-0 over the 13 games before that. The Yankees enter Friday sitting two games behind the Red Sox in the American League East standings and one game ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays.
While the team’s 7-3 record over its last 10 games is promising, six of those wins have come against bottom-feeder teams in the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and Texas. There aren’t any easy W’s left on New York’s schedule as the Yankees close out the regular season with three road games against Boston, three road games against Toronto and three home games against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Boston News & Notes
Boston’s finished up a two-game sweep over the New York Mets with a 12-5 victory on Wednesday night. Kyle Schwarber had a monster game at the plate going 3-for-4 with two home runs, four runs, and four RBI. Schwarber has proven to be an excellent trade deadline acquisition for the Red Sox as he has recorded a .297 batting average, 29 runs, six home runs and 17 RBI in 32 games with his new team.
Schwarber isn’t the only one who’s been hot at the plate of late. Over their current seven-game winning streak, the Red Sox are averaging 8.43 runs per game. Boston’s schedule down the stretch is far more forgiving than New York’s with its last six games coming on the road against Baltimore and the Washington Nationals.
Staff Betting Pick: Boston +108
Gerrit Cole will likely bounce back from the poor outing he had in his last start with a strong showing here. Still, with Eovaldi on the mound and the Red Sox hitting so well, Boston is too good to pass up on as a live underdog in this spot.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- NYY is 1-7 in its last 8 road games vs. BOS.
- Boston is 6-0 in its last 6 home games.
- The OVER is 6-2 in Boston’s last 8 games.
