Subscribe
Follow Us
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will continue one of the best rivalries in sports as the teams meet Friday at Fenway Park. It's time to continue our MLB odds coverage with a Yankees-Red Sox prediction and pick.
The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 6-5 on Thursday night. It was scoreless in the third inning when Josh Donaldson approached the batter's box with the bases loaded. Next, Donaldson hammered an absolute bomb to deep center field. It was a grand slam, his eighth home run in 2022, giving the Yankees a 4-0 lead. Then, Aaron Hicks blasted a shot to deep right. It was back-to-back home runs for the Yankees and the fifth of the season for Hicks.
The bottom half of the third came around and Rafael Devers slugged an absolute shot to deep right to cut the lead. It was his 18th in 2022, trimming the deficit to 5-2. Devers approached the plate again in the fifth with the score 6-2 and two runners on. Next, he blasted a three-run bomb to center field to trim the deficit to 6-5. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is possibly a future hall-of-famer, but on this night, Devers owned him. Devers accounted for all five Red Sox runs as they could not complete the comeback. The Yankees are 60-23, with the best record in baseball. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are third in the AL East at 55-38, trailing New York by 15 games.
Nestor Cortes will start for the Yankees tonight. Cortes is 7-3 with a 2.44 ERA. He went six innings in his last outing, allowing just one earned run on three hits. Cortes is 4-3 with a 2.82 ERA in eight road starts this season. The Red Sox will turn to Connor Seabold, who they brought back a few days ago. Seabold is 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA over two major league starts in 2022. The Yankees and the Red Sox have had many games over the last century, and the Yanks are 562-555 all-time in games at Fenway Park. Recently, they are 7-7 in games at Fenway since 2020.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Yankees-Red Sox odds:
MLB odds: Yankees-Red Sox Odds
Yankees: -1.5 (-104)
Red Sox: +1.5 (-115)
Over: 9.5 (-105)
Under: 9.5 (-115)
*Watch MLB Games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)
Why The Yankees Could Cover The Spread
The Yankees are without Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo. Thus, the rest of the lineup must produce. Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres are the two the team will look at to get results.
Stanton is batting .237 with 21 home runs, 54 RBIs, and 33 runs scored over 69 games. Additionally, he is batting .313 with two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs through four games against the Red Sox. Stanton is batting .289 with 12 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 28 runs scored through 52 career games against the Red Sox. Also, he is batting .326 with six home runs, 22 RBIs, and 16 runs in 25 career games at Fenway Park.
Torres is batting .264 with 13 home runs, 35 RBIs, 36 runs scored, and a .323 on-base percentage. Likewise, he is batting .273 with three hits and an RBI with one run through four games against the Sox. Torres has a .286 batting average with 11 home runs, 39 RBIs, and 33 runs scored through 64 games against the Red Sox throughout his career. Additionally, he is batting .255 with three home runs, 17 RBIs, and 14 runs through 30 games against the Sox at Fenway.
The Yankees will cover the spread if they get a great outing out of Torres. Moreover, they need Stanton and Torres to put pressure on the young Red Sox pitcher. Building an early lead is the key to success as it will help them cover any mistakes they make against the Boston lineup.
Why The Red Sox Could Cover The Spread
The Red Sox have Devers and Xander Bogaerts as the keys to success. Aside from pitching and defense, Boston needs these two to have a productive day.
Devers smashed Cole last night, connecting on two home runs. Overall, Devers is hitting .330 with 19 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 59 runs scored. He is batting .333 with three home runs, seven RBIs, and four runs scored through four games against the Yankees. Alternatively, it is better than his career stats against New York, where he is batting .254 with 16 home runs, 48 RBIs, and 42 runs scored through 75 games against the Yankees. Devers has performed better at Fenway, batting .280 with nine home runs, 26 RBIs, and 24 runs scored through 33 games against the Yanks at home.
Bogaerts is batting .311 with seven home runs, 34 RBIs, and 48 runs scored in 2022. Also, he is batting .286 with four hits, an RBI, and three runs scored through four games against the Yankees. Bogaerts is batting .263 with 17 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 77 runs scored through 137 games against the Yankees. Additionally, he is batting .280 with six home runs, 29 RBIs, and 40 runs scored through 64 games against the Yankees at Fenway.
The Red Sox covers the spread if Seabold gives them a quality outing. The Red Sox cannot fall behind again because the Yankees have too good of a bullpen to mount any offense against. Bogaerts and Devers must help Boston in that regard.
Final Yankees-Red Sox Prediction & Pick
The Yankees are hurting. Despite this, they still are the best team in baseball. They allowed two home runs to Devers last night and still won. Expect the trend to continue tonight, especially with Cortes on the mound. The Yankees pull off the win and cover the spread against their hated rivals at Fenway.
Final Yankees-Red Sox Prediction & Pick: Yankees: -1.5 (-104)
