Media by Associated Press – Boston Red Sox’s Jake Diekman pitches during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, July 9, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
The Boston Red Sox finally got a win in their series with hated rivals New York Yankees on Saturday with a 6-5 win in 10 innings.
The Yankees dominated the first two games of the series and go for the series win on Sunday night. The first pitch on Sunday is set for 7:08 p.m. ET at Fenway Park in Boston, airing on ESPN.
The Yankees will start RHP Jameson Taillon (9-2, 3.63) against Red Sox RHP Nick Pivetta (8-6, 3.68). The Yankees lead the season series 4-2 with a 2-1 mark in Boston. Last year the season series went to Boston 10-9 after the Yankees won nine of 10 games in 2020.
Yankees Keep Bashing
The Yankees have won four of five and are 5-4 on their 10-game, four-city road trip. They are 28-13 against the AL East this season. The Yankees are 27-15 on the road and 42-16 against right-handed pitchers this season.
The Yankees got a grand slam from Josh Donaldson and a homer from Aaron Hicks in Thursday’s win. They had 12 runs on 14 hits Friday night as Donaldson and Matt Carpenter both went deep. Hicks homered again in Saturday’s game before Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo had RBI doubles in the 10th inning.
Carpenter, who had two hits on Saturday, leads the Yankees with a .328 average while Judge is batting .284. Judge also leads the AL with 30 home runs and is second in the league with 65 RBI. Rizzo has 22 homers and 54 RBI on the season, while Giancarlo Stanton has 21 homers and 54 driven in.
Taillon has gone at least five innings in five straight starts, and he is 3-1 in that span. Since the beginning of June, he is 4-1 with 35 strikeouts and six walks over 38 ⅔ innings, but his ERA is 5.12 with six homers allowed. He was 2-0 against the Red Sox last year with four earned runs allowed over 17 ⅔ innings in his three starts.
None of the Red Sox batters have a career home run off Taillon. Xander Bogaerts has the most at-bats against him, going 3-for-12, while Alex Verdugo is 2-for-9 and Kevin Plawecki is 3-for-8. Rafael Devers is 1-for-5, J.D. Martinez is 2-for-5, and Trevor Story is 1-for-6.
Red Sox Pitching is Slumping
The Red Sox have lost four of five and eight of their last 12, allowing at least five runs in five straight games and eight of the last 11. Boston is 22-20 at home this season and 31-34 against RHP. They are 10-20 against the AL East after Saturday’s much-needed win.
Verdugo was the hero on Saturday with a two-run walk-off single in the 10th inning to cap a 3-for-5 night. The Red Sox scored five runs on five hits Thursday and five runs on 13 Friday. In Thursday’s loss, Devers drove in all five runs with two homers while Rob Refsnyder was 4-for-5 while Bobby Dalbec and Story both went deep.
Devers left Friday’s game with back soreness and is expected to miss his second straight game on Sunday. Dalbec started in his place Saturday and went 1-for-3 with a RBI and a walk. Refsnyder has two homers in the series, while Xander Bogaerts had two hits Saturday to raise his average to .309.
Pivetta lost against the Rays on Monday, allowing seven runs on eight hits over 5⅔ innings. He is 4-2 with a 3.35 ERA since the start of June, with just four home runs allowed in 45⅔ innings. Pivetta lost to the Yankees on April 9, allowing four runs on four hits over 5⅔ innings while walking three and striking out four.
Pivetta has given up eight home runs to current Yankees, with Donaldson hitting three, Rizzo and Stanton two each, and Carpenter with one. Judge is 0-for-4 against Pivetta while Stanton is 6-for-16 and Rizzo is 4-for-14.
Betting Analysis
- New York Yankees -1.5 (+120) Moneyline -130
- Boston Red Sox +1.5 (-140) Moneyline +115
- Total Runs 9. Over -120. Under +100
The Yankees have scored 39 runs in their last four games and at least five runs in seven of their last 10. Both of these starting pitchers struggled in their last outings on Tuesday, and the bullpens have been taxed so far in this series. Look for the runs to be plentiful in the nationally televised game.
Betting Pick: Over 9.0 runs (-120)
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