Despite where the teams are in the standings there’s always drama when the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees tangle. The best rivalry in baseball heats up one last time with Thursday’s contest on FOX starting the final series of the season. Not only are the Yankees trying to hold off Toronto and Tampa Bay for the AL East lead, we’re also witnessing Aaron Judge chase history. Judge enters the week with 59 homers, two shy of matching the AL single season record. Judge setting the record and getting a win over their biggest rival would be pretty cool for the Yankees, who have won nine of 15 meetings this season.
First pitch for this AL East contest between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees is set for 7:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 22, 2022. The game will air live on FOX from Yankee Stadium. BookMaker.eu will have betting options for every game of the MLB season.
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Odds Analysis
They haven’t been officially eliminated from playoff contention, but that’s just a formality since they are well off the pace for the third wild card entering the week. What’s scary about the Sox is that they never really got on a roll this season outside the month of June when they went 20-6. They haven’t put together a winning month in any of the other five, though a 13-3 win over the Royals and a series victory put them a game over the breakeven point in September, though it’s way too little and much too late.
It’s easy to see where the Sox failed this season. They boast an offense that averages nearly 4.6 runs while hitting .259 as a team with a .731 OPS, all ranked among the top-10 in MLB. Pitching has been the issue with starters and relievers struggling. The rotation has a 4.43 ERA and 1.33 WHIP while relievers sport a 4.48 ERA and 1.34 WHIP through 146 games. It didn’t help that James Paxton hasn’t pitched this season and Chris Sale made only two starts before being shut down. The most reliable starter Michael Wacha missed time due to injury, but he’s slated to take the bump on Thursday.
The Yankees made things very interesting about 10 days ago dropping the opener to Tampa Bay that sliced their division lead to 3.5 games, the smallest it had been since early May. They responded, though, with the offense picking up some slack. They scored 10 runs in each of the next two games taking both from Tampa and followed that with a two-game sweep in Boston to restore some order.
Still not clear of the competition in the division, the Yanks need to continue swinging the sticks. They won five of seven since that loss to the Rays on Sept. 9 scoring double digits in three games. It’s a welcome sight since the club struggled during a slide that saw the lead shrink. And getting back to the Stadium has to be a comfort. The Yankees have the best home record in the AL winning 69.4 percent of their games, second in MLB only to the Dodgers.
Probable Pitchers
Under other circumstances Michael Wacha (11-1, 2.61 ERA) would probably be getting some consideration for the Cy Young Award. After two rough seasons where he went 4-9 with a 5.39 ERA over 158.2 innings, the righty is having a career season with the Sox. It’s hard to imagine where they’d be without him putting up the numbers he has. He’s allowed just 91 hits in 114 innings for a 1.03 WHIP. Wacha blanked the Yankees on two hits with nine strikeouts over seven innings in a 3-0 win on Aug. 14. He has not allowed an earned run in his last four starts against New York covering 23 innings. He allowed just seven hits with 29 strikeouts and five walks in that span. I guess you could say Wacha’s had the Yankees number.
This would have been a spot for Frankie Montas to take the hill, but the righty is having his pitching shoulder looked at after an early exit from his last start. There is some good news, though, with the return of Luis Severino, who’s scheduled to start Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh. Aaron Boone said Domingo German would likely step into the rotation if Montas misses time. German last pitched on Sept. 16 in relief of Montas tossing 1.2 scoreless frames. He started all 11 games prior to that.
Red Sox at Yankees MLB Odds Pick
The Yankees are getting players back in time for the stretch run that should help them hold on to the division lead. Anthony Rizzo should be back in the lineup this week giving the club the players that bolted out to the best record in baseball during the first half. And I can see the Yanks taking out some frustration on Wacha and the Sox.
MLB Odds Prediction: New York Yankees / OVER
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