Yankees vs Red Sox MLB | Huge In AL Wild-Card Chase

No question that the most important series around the majors this weekend is Yankees at Red Sox as it could be a potential AL wild-card game preview. One of them, though, could miss out. New York is favored on the MLB odds for Friday’s opener at Fenway behind ace Gerrit Cole.

How to Bet Yankees at Red Sox MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 7:10 PM ET
Where: Fenway Park
Probable pitchers (away/home): Gerrit Cole/Nathan Eovaldi
TV: MLB Network
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Yankees -115, Red Sox +105 (total 9)

Why Bet on New York?

The Yankees enter on a three-game wining streak. They almost had a disastrous home loss to Texas on Wednesday but Gleyber Torres delivered a go-ahead double in the eighth inning. Gary Sanchez later put the game away with a two-run homer. It was Sanchez’s 23rd home run of the season and second in three contests. Sanchez has batted .191 with five homers and 11 RBI this month. Torres is hitting .319 with four extra-base hits and six walks in his last 13 games.

Yankees relievers tossed 4.2 scoreless innings Wednesday and did not allow a hit or run. They have not allowed a run in their last 12.2IP (4H, 0BB, 15K). Chad Green (1.0IP, 1K) recorded his career-high ninth win of the season (previous: eight in 2018). He is the just the third Yankees reliever since 2005 to record at least nine wins in a season, joining teammate Jonathan Loaisiga (9-4 in 2021) and Alfredo Aceves (10-1 in 2009).

NYY batters have homered in a season-high 15 straight games. They have hit 34HR over that span. It marks their longest streak since their MLB-record streak of 31 in a row in 2019. In their last 15 games, 53 of the Yankees’ 73 runs have scored via the home run.

It’s ace and Cy Young contender Gerrit Cole on the mound here. Cole (15-8) allowed seven runs on 10 hits and one walk over 5 2/3 innings to take the loss last Sunday as the Yankees fell to the Guardians. The right-hander surrendered a pair of home runs in one of the worst outings of his career. Cole has been generous with baserunners lately, allowing 19 hits and six walks in his last 14.1 innings across three starts. His ERA risen to 3.03 with a 1.03 WHIP and 231:38 K:BB through 169.1 innings overall.

Cole’s 231K are the third-most by a Yankee in a single season in club history, trailing only Ron Guidry (248K in 35GS in 1978) and Jack Chesbro (239K in 55G/51GS in 1904). Cole is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA this year vs. Boston. He gave up three runs in five innings in his most recent outing at Fenway Park on July 23.

Why Bet on Boston?

The Red Sox are in pretty good shape in holding down the top wild-card spot by two games. They enter on a seven-game winning streak after stomping the Mets 12-5 on Wednesday. Kyle Schwarber homered twice, doubled, drove in four runs and scored four runs. He has driven in nine runs in his last five appearances and his .297/.431/.541 line in 32 games for Boston has made him one of this year’s best trade deadline pickups.

Jose Iglesias went 1-for-3 with a walk, a triple, two runs scored and two RBI in the win to push his hitting streak to nine. Since making the move to the Red Sox from the Angels, Iglesias has hit .378 with six extra-base hits. He’s known as a fielder, not a hitter.

Boston’s winning streak is the team’s longest since winning 8 consecutive games from 6/25-7/2. The Sox are 23 games over .500, tying their season high-water mark.

It’s Nathan Eovaldi (10-8, 3.58) on the mound here. Eovaldi yielded three runs over five innings last Sunday in a no-decision against the Orioles. Eovaldi recorded eight strikeouts, induced 16 swinging strikes and finished with an elite 42 percent CSW (called strikes plus whiffs).

In his last 8 starts, Eovaldi has a 2.27 ERA (12 ER/47.2 IP) with 64 SO, 8 BB, and a 1.03 WHIP. He leads AL pitchers in fWAR (5.5), ranking T-3^rd among all pitchers (Burnes-7.2, Wheeler-6.5, Scherzer-5.5). Eovaldi leads the majors in BB/9.0 IP (1.66) and is tied for the AL lead in starts (30) and ranks among league leaders in ERA (6th, 3.58), SO (6th, 188), IP (4th, 173.2), and WHIP (6th, 1.17).

Eovaldi is 2-1 with a 2.01 ERA in five starts against the Yankees this year.