The Boston Red Sox vs The New York Yankees Prediction, odds, preview 08/17/2021

Game Time: 1:05 pm ET, Tuesday, August 17th, 2021
Venue:  Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Where to Watch:  YES, NESN, MLBN (out of market)

Red Sox:  69-41 (2nd place AL East)

Yankees: 65-52 (3rd place, AL East)

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds: Red Sox -121, Yankees +110; Over/Under: 10 runs

Red Sox1: Christian Arroyo (hamstring) Out, Danny Santana (groin) Out
Yankees:  Gary Sanchez (Covid-19) Out, Jordan Montgomery (Covid-19) Out

Red Sox:

E. Hernandez, 2B
H. Renfroe, RF
X. Bogaerts, SS
R. Devers, 3B
J. Martinez, LF
K. Schwarber, DH
B. Dalbec, 1B
A. Verdugo, CF
C. Vazquez, C

Yankees:

D. LeMahieu, 1B
B. Gardner, CF
A. Judge, RF
J. Gallo, DH
G. Stanton, LF
L. Voit, 1B
R. Odor, 2B
K. Higashioka, C
T. Wade, 3B

Red Sox:

Batting Average:  Xander Bogaerts (.309)

Hits:  Xander Bogaerts (127)

Home Runs:  Rafael Devers (29)

RBI:  Rafael Devers (89)

Stolen Bases:  Christian Vasquez (8)

Wins:  Nathan Eovaldi (10)

Saves:  Matt Barnes (24)

ERA:  Nathan Eovaldi (3.92)

Yankees:

Batting Average:  Aaron Judge (.285)

Hits:  DJ LeMahieu (121)

Home Runs: Aaron Judge (26)

RBI:  Aaron Judge (63)

Stolen Bases:  Gleyber Torres (12)

Wins: Gerrit Cole  (10)

Saves:  Aroldis Chapman (23)

ERA:  Gerrit Cole  (3.11)

Managers:

Red Sox:  Alex Cora
Yankees:  Aaron Boone

The Red Sox are 5-5 over their last ten games.  They notched 5 Overs and 5 Unders.  This time of year in this hotly contested division you would hope to break .500  on every ten-game stretch. In June they were the bosses of the division.  Since July they have been just OK… As a result, the Yankees' odds have increased to catch them week after week.  They went 1-3 against the Toronto Blue Jays (giving them life), 1-2 against the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game series, and swept the Baltimore Orioles 3-0.  

The Yankees have gone 7-3 over the same ten game stretch.  Logging 4 Overs and 6 Unders.  They are gaining on the Red Sox slowly.  65-52 at this point in the season is nothing to give a trophy to, but the Yankees odds keep going up, matchup after matchup. The NYY are looking for a slight improvement out of Giancarlo Stanton to round out the line-up of the Bronx Bombers… but then so is everybody.

The Red Sox are 3rd in batting average .260, 4th in runs scored, and 9th in home runs 153.  The are just behind the Rays and everybody's behind the Houston Astros.  

Red Sox pitching is 15th in ERA 4.28, 6th in strikeouts 1125, and a LOUSY 28th in preventing Home Runs!!  The pitching is letting the batting down.  Nathan Eovaldi can’t be the starting pitcher every night… so they are going to have to find some arms.

The Yankees are 21st in batting average .237, 11th in runs scored, and 14th in home runs 146.  Other offenses laugh at their puny little muscles and kick sand in their faces.  The Yanks have some other worldly home run hitters but need more than 25th place in hits (915) To get runs.  If Aaron Judge bombs one out and Giancarlo Stanton bombs one out... and you only score 2 runs the entire game? I'm betting you lose… but if you find a couple guys to get on base from time to time those home runs might mean something else.

The Yankees pitchers are 8th in ERA 3.71, 7th in strikeouts 1109, and 20th in preventing home runs 133. They are only slightly better than the Red Sox pitchers… but slightly better does mean better.

Tom Stryker is 55-26 with his MLB GRAND SLAM TOP SHELF WAGER.  Don’t miss Tom’s win percentage any longer!  You can find Tom’s MLB Best Bets at our Shop Picks page.  And always check out BigAl.com for picks from any of our professional, winning handicappers on any sport.

This is supposed to be the battle of the biggest boys.  The storied franchises of MLB.  One side with all the titles and one side the ultra competitor who broke the curse and kept chugging along in this new millennium.  Problem is they are both GOOD.  A battle of great vs great gets our full attention… a battle of good vs good gets a moneyline bet with an accompanied O/U.  Sorry, both these teams are fighting for second place and maybe a wild card spot… while the Rays hover above and the Blue Jays catch up quickly.  The AL East is tough.  You can’t go 5-5 and you can’t rest on 7-3 once in a while… you have to take Phil Rizutto to the Moneystore, get a cup of chowder, and GO ALL IN.  Neither team has it this year.

The Red Sox will wait til late gameday to decide on a pitcher, as this is the first of a doubleheader.  They don’t want to tip their hand at who will be throwing in either game.  The Sox are the team in jeopardy and must play games to get any advantage they can.

The Yankees will start Luis Gil 1-0, 0.00 ERA, and 14 strikeouts.  He has only pitched 11 innings in his career with the Yankees… or anywhere.  They were 11 fine innings with a 0.82 WHIP… but that's meaningless because of the small sample size.  The 23 year old Dominican Republic product looks the part with a strong arm, a death stare at batters, and 6’2 185 fits the part.  I’m willing to bet this youngster catches on and hangs in the rotation.

“Myself, I’m feeling really good the way I’ve been pitching, I would say, in the second half,....I battled a lot through the first half, and I finally figured out everything with my mechanics and everything.”  - Eduardo Rodriguez, Red Sox pitcher and guy who is excited to be there.

"I’m capable of doing a lot in this lineup,....I want to hit; I’m a good hitter. I want to help this team any way I can to win a championship. This year has been a tough ride for me, but I’ve just got to keep grinding.” - Luke Voit, little known or thought of Yankee… who got the insurance run in the 9th inning to secure a win over the Chicago White Sox Sunday.

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