Chasing Blue Jays, Yanks & Red Sox meet at Fenway
Chasing Blue Jays, Yanks & Red Sox meet at Fenway
A soggy week in Beantown is giving way to a mostly sunny and warm weekend just in time for the Yankees and Red Sox to renew their heated rivalry at Fenway Park. The AL East foes are presently tied for second in the division, but they're not chasing the Tampa Bay Rays as one might expect with the Toronto Blue Jays atop the rankings with the AL's best record nearly three weeks into the 2009 campaign.
It took a little more than two weeks, but the first Yankees-Red Sox series of the season is here. With all due respect to the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays, the AL East is all about handicapping New York and Boston – especially for public bettors.
Game 1 (7:10 PM ET) goes Friday night at Fenway Park, where the Yankees actually had their way with the Red Sox last season. New York won six of the nine games against the moneyline in Beantown in 2008, although BoSox bettors had the last laugh because the Bronx Bombers missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Joba Chamberlain (0-0, 5.06 ERA) gets the ball for New York in the opener, with the big righthander coming off his roughest start of the young season. Chamberlain allowed five runs over 4 2-3 innings to take a no-decision in the Yanks’ 6-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians last Friday, as New York cashed as 1212 chalk at new Yankee Stadium.
Southpaw Jon Lester (1-2, 5.50 ERA) toes the rubber for Boston, which opened as -125 favorites at most outlets on Thursday. The Red Sox could be had for as low as -117 on the moneyline as of press time, while New York was in the range of +105 to +109 at the window. The total is listed at 9½ across the board, with sharps likely leaning towards the over. Boston has played over the number in 10 of its last 11 outings (8-3 against the moneyline), while the rivals are 21-7 O/U in their last 28 meetings at Fenway.
Lester was impressive in his start last Sunday against Baltimore, when he held the Orioles scoreless over seven innings while striking out nine in the Red Sox’ 2-1 victory as -191 home faves. The win is part of a larger moneymaking run that has the Red Sox as the hottest wager in the American League; Boston has won seven straight against the moneyline (6-1 O/U).
The Yankees are coming off a two-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics earlier in the week, and have cashed four of their last five games overall. Melky Cabrera’s walk-off, two-run dinger in the bottom of the 14th inning lifted New York (-260) past Oakland 9-7 on Wednesday, while reliever Jose Veras picked up the win after pitching 3 2-3 scoreless innings.
The homer was the second of the game for Cabrera, although Yankees backers were wishing it were Mark Teixeira who had the big game. Teixeira is hitting only .222 to start the season, which isn’t good news with Alex Rodriguez (hip) and Xavier Nady (elbow) on the 15-day disabled list.
Boston’s injury list is longer, but outside of Daisuke Matsuzaka (arm), the players on the shelf aren’t of the same significance. The biggest difficulty is both Jed Lowrie (wrist) and Julio Lugo (knee) are on the 15-day DL, meaning the BoSox are going to line up with Nick Green at shortstop.
Saturday’s Game 2 (4:10 PM ET) features a battle of hardthrowing righties in the Yanks’ A.J. Burnett (2-0, 3.79 ERA) and the Red Sox’ Josh Beckett (2-1, 3.79 ERA). New York is 3-0 against the moneyline when Burnett takes the hill this season, which is music to the Yankees’ ears considering the money they threw at the former Toronto Blue Jay in the offseason.
Beckett makes his first start since his five-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing brawl with the Los Angeles Angels on April 12. By accepting the five-game hiatus instead of appealing the six-game suspension originally handed down by MLB, Beckett is able to make his scheduled start without missing a beat.
The series finale is slated for Sunday Night Baseball (8:05 PM ET), with New York’s Andy Pettitte (2-0, 2.53 ERA) dueling Boston’s Justin Masterson (1-0, 3.18 ERA). Masterson is currently taking Dice-K’s normal spot in the rotation, and he looked right at home last time out; the lanky righthander held Baltimore to only one run over 5 1-3 innings in the BoSox’ (-215) 12-1 thrashing of the Orioles on Monday.
Pettitte has been New York’s best starter so far, and has a very formidable 0.94 WHIP and .250 OBP against to go along with his stellar ERA. The veteran lefty gave up two runs over seven innings in the Yanks’ 5-3 win over the A’s on Tuesday, as New York cashed as –270 home chalk.
A soggy week in Beantown is giving way to a mostly sunny and warm weekend just in time for the Yankees and Red Sox to renew their heated rivalry at Fenway Park. The AL East foes are presently tied for second in the division, but they're not chasing the Tampa Bay Rays as one might expect with the Toronto Blue Jays atop the rankings with the AL's best record nearly three weeks into the 2009 campaign.
It took a little more than two weeks, but the first Yankees-Red Sox series of the season is here. With all due respect to the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays, the AL East is all about handicapping New York and Boston – especially for public bettors.
Game 1 (7:10 PM ET) goes Friday night at Fenway Park, where the Yankees actually had their way with the Red Sox last season. New York won six of the nine games against the moneyline in Beantown in 2008, although BoSox bettors had the last laugh because the Bronx Bombers missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Joba Chamberlain (0-0, 5.06 ERA) gets the ball for New York in the opener, with the big righthander coming off his roughest start of the young season. Chamberlain allowed five runs over 4 2-3 innings to take a no-decision in the Yanks’ 6-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians last Friday, as New York cashed as 1212 chalk at new Yankee Stadium.
Southpaw Jon Lester (1-2, 5.50 ERA) toes the rubber for Boston, which opened as -125 favorites at most outlets on Thursday. The Red Sox could be had for as low as -117 on the moneyline as of press time, while New York was in the range of +105 to +109 at the window. The total is listed at 9½ across the board, with sharps likely leaning towards the over. Boston has played over the number in 10 of its last 11 outings (8-3 against the moneyline), while the rivals are 21-7 O/U in their last 28 meetings at Fenway.
Lester was impressive in his start last Sunday against Baltimore, when he held the Orioles scoreless over seven innings while striking out nine in the Red Sox’ 2-1 victory as -191 home faves. The win is part of a larger moneymaking run that has the Red Sox as the hottest wager in the American League; Boston has won seven straight against the moneyline (6-1 O/U).
The Yankees are coming off a two-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics earlier in the week, and have cashed four of their last five games overall. Melky Cabrera’s walk-off, two-run dinger in the bottom of the 14th inning lifted New York (-260) past Oakland 9-7 on Wednesday, while reliever Jose Veras picked up the win after pitching 3 2-3 scoreless innings.
The homer was the second of the game for Cabrera, although Yankees backers were wishing it were Mark Teixeira who had the big game. Teixeira is hitting only .222 to start the season, which isn’t good news with Alex Rodriguez (hip) and Xavier Nady (elbow) on the 15-day disabled list.
Boston’s injury list is longer, but outside of Daisuke Matsuzaka (arm), the players on the shelf aren’t of the same significance. The biggest difficulty is both Jed Lowrie (wrist) and Julio Lugo (knee) are on the 15-day DL, meaning the BoSox are going to line up with Nick Green at shortstop.
Saturday’s Game 2 (4:10 PM ET) features a battle of hardthrowing righties in the Yanks’ A.J. Burnett (2-0, 3.79 ERA) and the Red Sox’ Josh Beckett (2-1, 3.79 ERA). New York is 3-0 against the moneyline when Burnett takes the hill this season, which is music to the Yankees’ ears considering the money they threw at the former Toronto Blue Jay in the offseason.
Beckett makes his first start since his five-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing brawl with the Los Angeles Angels on April 12. By accepting the five-game hiatus instead of appealing the six-game suspension originally handed down by MLB, Beckett is able to make his scheduled start without missing a beat.
The series finale is slated for Sunday Night Baseball (8:05 PM ET), with New York’s Andy Pettitte (2-0, 2.53 ERA) dueling Boston’s Justin Masterson (1-0, 3.18 ERA). Masterson is currently taking Dice-K’s normal spot in the rotation, and he looked right at home last time out; the lanky righthander held Baltimore to only one run over 5 1-3 innings in the BoSox’ (-215) 12-1 thrashing of the Orioles on Monday.
Pettitte has been New York’s best starter so far, and has a very formidable 0.94 WHIP and .250 OBP against to go along with his stellar ERA. The veteran lefty gave up two runs over seven innings in the Yanks’ 5-3 win over the A’s on Tuesday, as New York cashed as –270 home chalk.