Finally, the series everyone outside of the Northeast is sick to death of is back for 2022 — and it’s at the top of the Friday MLB odds board.
The exhausting, endless New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox death feud graces Yankee Stadium, your living room, and the nightmares of every Brewers, Rangers and Royals fan just hoping to catch their team’s SportsCenter highlights in peace without some anchor bleating at them about Bucky Dent and Pedro Martinez committing elder abuse.
How could Props.com’s MLB Game of the Day be anything else? Let’s break down Round 1 of Yanks-Sox, a matinee affair in the Bronx.
Odds via DraftKings and updated as of noon ET.
Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees
First pitch/TV: 1:05 p.m. ET/MLB Network & MLB.TV
Red Sox (2021): 92-70 SU/84-78 RL/68-88 O/U
Yankees (2021): 92-70 SU/74-88 RL/72-84 O/U
Moneyline/Total: Yankees -180/8 (Under -115)
Rivalry mood:
About Boston: If you ever doubted that Billy Beane’s Moneyball line, “My sh!t doesn’t work in the playoffs” was rooted in any kind of reality, consider the 2021 Red Sox. They took Houston to Game 6 of the ALCS and pitched Nathan Eovaldi roughly 43 times during the series, because the other option was putting Martín Perez on the actual mound in a real October game. Speaking of Eovaldi, the Red Sox are handing the Opening Day ball to the former Yankee (fine, former Marlin), as ace Chris Sale is injured yet again. Eovaldi went 11-9 with a 3.75 ERA in 32 regular-season starts last year. Six of those starts were against the Bombers, and the right-hander was terrific in the first five, surrendering a combined eight runs. But in his final start against New York on Sept. 24, Eovaldi got terrorized for seven runs, mostly because Boston was wearing those brutal yellow unis.
Giancarlo had his way at Fenway 💪 pic.twitter.com/XoKUhE31EE
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 25, 2021
Trevor Story makes his Boston debut and Jackie Bradley Jr. makes his re-debut, which, speaking of Moneyball, how do we feel about Story moving over from shortstop to second? It’s not that hard, Trev. Tell ‘im, Wash.
About New York: Gerritt Cole was really good last year, then got really bad once he wasn’t allowed to slime up the ball anymore. Then he got good again, just in time to get hurt and get bad again. Then he was juuuuust good enough to earn a playoff start, when he was very bad. In all, Cole went 16-8 with a 3.23 ERA in 30 regular-season starts in 2021. The right-hander only faced Boston four times, giving 12 earned runs (including five homers) across 22 innings. The thing he was signed for $324 million specifically to not do. Josh Donaldson makes his Aging Veteran Finally Comes to the Yankees Memorial Award debut, and New York really is going to roll out Kyle Higashioka at catcher and Isiah Kiner-Falefa as a starting shortstop. Apparently, that wasn’t some weird Jackass-esque prank.
2021 season series: Boston went 10-9 against the Yankees during the regular season, then eliminated New York from the postseason with a 6-2 home win in a one-game playoff. The Red Sox won the first seven regular-season meetings, while the Yankees took the last six.
Editor’s Note: New to betting on MLB? Check out our complete MLB betting guide that includes tips on how to become a sharper baseball bettor.
Injuries: Sale is on the shelf again, this time with a stress fracture in his rib cage that will sideline him until at least June. Fellow left-hander Josh Taylor’s sore back has him out of Boston’s bullpen indefinitely. Former Yankee southpaw James Paxton (fine, former Mariner) is recovering from Tommy John surgery and likely won’t be back until midseason. … Yankees SP Stephen Ridings has no timetable to come back from a right shoulder impingement, while fellow SP Domingo Germán (right shoulder inflammation) won’t return until late May or early June. Also, veteran southpaw reliever Zack Britton continues to recover from Tommy John, and if he comes back this year it won’t be until late in the season. Catcher Ben Rortvedt (oblique) will be back sometime this month.
Notable Trends
- Boston went 11-8 in spring training with 91 runs scored and 87 allowed
- New York went 8-10 in the spring, scoring 111 and allowing 98
- New York was the No. 1 Under team in MLB last season with a 68-88 O/U mark
- Boston was the No. 5 Under team last year at 72-84
- New York is 36-15 in its last 51 home games vs. Boston
- Under is 10-3-1 in the last 14 Red Sox-Yankees clashes
Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees Odds & Action
UPDATE 12:05 P.M. ET: The Yankees hit DraftKings’ Friday MLB odds board as a -164 favorite late Thursday, dipped to -154 early Friday morning and has steadily climbed since. After stops at -159 and -169, New York has now peaked at -180. New York is taking 63% of the bets and 71% of the money. The total opened at 8 and has toggled back and forth between 8 and 8.5, with juice adjustments along the way. Currently, the total is back down to 8/Under -115. At DraftKings, 53% of bets and 56% of money are on the Under.
