New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox Betting Preview
Where: Fenway Park, Boston
When: Sunday, September 18, 2016, 8:08 PM ET
Line: New York Yankees (+160) at Boston Red Sox (-180); total: 9.5– view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Writer’s Pick: Boston Red Sox (-180)
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Betting on the New York Yankees (+160)
The Yankees are seven games behind in their division, 4 ½ games out of the second wild card spot and have 14 regular-season games remaining. If you do the math, it’s still possible for them to squeak into the playoffs. But they better stop choking in games.
Take for instance this final regular-season series with the Red Sox. The Pinstripers have conceded a three-run lead twice already, the most recent of which came in yesterday’s 6-5 loss. With that collapse, they are now on the verge of falling victim to a four-game sweep in tonight’s series finale.
CC Sabathia (8-12, 4.10 ERA), who’s won four of his last five starts on the road, should at least give the Yankees a reason to be optimistic. He heads onto the mound later with the hopes of replicating his vintage performance against the Dodgers last Tuesday. Sabathia threw for 6 1/3 scoreless innings and put in seven strikeouts in that game.
Meanwhile, the offense suffered more damage with the injuries of Jacob Ellsbury (right knee) and Starlin Castro (hamstring) during Saturday’s loss. This likely means that we’ll get to see New York lean more on its reserves moving forward. So, yes, the almost-impossible climb to the playoffs got steeper.
Betting on the Boston Red Sox (-180)
David Price wasn’t at his best yesterday, but the Boston Red Sox continued to find ways to bring home the win.
Price was faulted for five earned runs in total, which gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead at one point in the third inning. The Red Sox, however, picked up the slack as they gradually chipped away at the deficit to eventually come away with the 6-5 victory.
Xander Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts played critical roles in mounting that successful comeback. Bogaerts and Ramirez both went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Betts swung in the tying run in the seventh frame and the go-ahead around later on.
Bogaerts had the best outing among all batters, though. The All-Star shortstop knocked in a pair of doubles, two runs and three runs batted in. He also submitted his 20th homer of the season in the fifth frame.
Now the AL East-leading Red Sox turn to Drew Pomeranz (10-12, 3.25 ERA) in tonight’s series finale. He was held to just two innings in his last start versus Baltimore, during which the lefty yielded four hits and five runs. But Pomeranz has been superb against the Yankees, boasting a 1.27 ERA in four career games (three starts) in this matchup.
In the case that Pomeranz struggles, you can expect the Red Sox, who currently own just a 2.5-game advantage over the Blue Jays and Orioles for the division title, to rely heavily on their offense (5. 57 runs per game) once again.
Boston is 6-4 SU in its past 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction: Boston (-180) completes the sweep, 5-2.
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