By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
The Boston Red Sox (71-59) will look to complete a four-game sweep of its archrival New York Yankees (69-60) tonight at Yankee Stadium on ESPN. Boston pummeled New York 12-1 yesterday and have won eight in a row against New York this season. The Red Sox dropped the opening meeting of the season to the Yankees on June 6 and have not lost to them since. The long-time rivals will meet for a final time in the regular season next month (Sept. 12-14) at Fenway Park.
Boston’s eight straight wins against New York is its longest winning streak against them since 2009. Ironically, 2009 was the last time the Yankees won the World Series.
Tonight’s starting pitchers are Dustin May (7-9, 4.59 ERA, 114 strikeouts in 22 starts) for Boston and Carlos Rodon (13-7, 3.24 ERA, 169 strikeouts in 26 starts) for New York.
GAME ODDS
Moneyline: Boston (+144), New York (-176)
Run Line: Boston +1.5 (-145), New York -1.5 (+122)
Run Total: over 8.5 (-115), under 8.5 (-105)
GAME STORYLINES: BOSTON
After breaking the 86-year ‘Curse of the Bambino’ by winning the 2004 World Series, the Boston Red Sox quickly established themselves as a championship franchise. They went on to win three more World Series crowns in 2007, 2013 and 2018. Unfortunately, the championship allure has worn off in recent years as Boston entered the 2025 season with three straight non-winning seasons, their longest streak of futility since suffering three straight losing seasons from 1992-1994.
The Red Sox appeared to be heading towards a fourth straight subpar season in 2025 as they struggled to get to the .500 mark through the two and a half months of the season. Superstar slugger Rafael Devers reportedly refusing to play first base after Tristan Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury on May 2 became a lingering issue. Devers moved from third base to designated hitter prior to the season after Boston inked third baseman Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million free agent contract.
Rafael Devers refusing to play first base seemed to become more and more contentious as the season went on. Eventually, Boston made the stunning move of trading Devers to the San Francisco Giants on June 16. Devers had been Boston’s most productive player over the last 6 seasons and just signed a massive 10-year, $365 million contract extension in 2023. He led Boston in batting average, homers and RBI (.272, 15 HR, 58 RBI in 73 gms) before being traded.
The loss of Rafael Devers may end up being addition by subtraction due Boston playing better without him. The Red Sox were 37-36 on the day (Jun. 16) Devers was traded and are now 34-23 without him. They are currently 71-59 and occupy the top Wild Card spot (No. 4 seed). The Red Sox hold a 1.5 game lead over New York for that top Wild Card spot.
The foursome of second-year, emerging outfielders Wilyer Abreu (.253, team-leading 22 HR, 69 RBI in 108 gms) and Ceddanne Rafaela (.249, 14 HR, 53 RBI, 26 doubles, 19 steals in 124 gms) along with shortstop Trevor Story (.261, 20 HR, team-leading 82 RBI, 22 steals, 22 doubles in 126 gms) and the aforementioned Alex Bregman (.305, 16 HR, 53 RBI, 24 doubles in 84 gms) are the standouts in a deep lineup.
Boston received a big mid-season boost from highly-touted rookie outfielder Roman Anthony. The 21-year-old was widely considered MLB’s No. 1 minor league prospect heading into the 2025 season. Boston called him up from Triple-A Worcester on June 9 and he’s been terrific in the majors. Anthony is batting .284 with 5 homers, 27 RBI and 18 doubles in 61 games. Boston was so encouraged by Anthony’s play that they signed him to an 8-year, $130 million extension that will begin in 2026. Escalators could increase the value to $230 million.
On the mound, superstar ace Garrett Crochet is posting an excellent season in his first year in Boston. The Red Sox acquired the 26-year-old southpaw from the Chicago White Sox in a blockbuster trade last December. He is currently 14-5 with a 2.38 ERA and 207:42 K:BB over 26 starts. Crochett was named an All-Star for a second straight year. His dominance at the top of the rotation has led to a much improved pitching staff for Boston.
Veteran closer Aroldis Chapman (24 saves, 1.08 ERA, 71 strikeouts in 50 innings) is experiencing a renaissance season with Boston at age 37. The Red Sox signed the hard-throwing Chapman to a one-year deal in the offseason and he’s emerged as Boston’s top relief pitcher. The 16-year southpaw was selected as an All-Star this season. It was his eighth All-Star nod and first since 2021.
GAME STORYLINES: NEW YORK
Last year, the New York Yankees bounced back from a rare down year in 2023 (82-80 record) to finish 94-68 and advance to the World Series. It was their first World Series appearance since 2009. The stellar play of 2024 American League MVP Aaron Judge (.322, 58 HR, 144 RBI, 133 walks in 158 gms) and trade acquisition/free-agent-to-be Juan Soto (.288, 41, 109 RBI, 129 walks in 157 gms) were the catalysts to last season’s tremendous success.
In an unexpected turn of events, unrestricted free agent Juan Soto spurned the Yankees 16-year, $760 million offer and signed a 15-year, $750 million offer with the New York Mets. The Yankees received more bad offseason news in March when it was announced that ace Gerrit Cole would miss the entire 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery.
The losses of Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole during the offseason did not seem to affect the Yankees through the early portion of the 2025 season. New York was 42-25 on June 12, and held a 4.5 game lead over the second-place Toronto Blue Jays behind the exploits of superstar slugger Aaron Judge at the plate and the dominance of Max Fried on the mound.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, everything seemed to unravel for them beginning on June 13. They went on a 7-game losing streak and have been in a prolonged slump ever since. New York is 27-35 since June 12, and went from sitting 4.5 games atop the American League East to now being 6.5 games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.
Sloppy defense and faulty pitching outside of Max Fried and Carlos Rodon are the main reasons for New York’s two-month slump. Gerrit Cole’s season-long injury and the loss of Juan Soto are becoming glaring as the presence of both players would solve a lot of the Yankees problems this season. The recent return of second-year, starting pitcher Luis Gil (15-7, 3.50 ERA in 29 starts as a rookie last year) may help the pitching staff moving forward.
Despite the prolonged struggles as a team, the incomparable Aaron Judge is amassing another impeccable season at the plate. The 33-year-old reigning AL MVP is batting .326 with 40 homers, 92 RBI, 26 doubles and 88 walks in 119 games. He leads MLB in batting average and his 40 homers is tied for fourth. Judge is a minus-210 favorite to win the 2025 American League MVP Award. If he wins it again this season, he’ll become the first player to repeat as AL MVP since Miguel Cabrera did it with Detroit in 2012 and 2013.
In addition to Aaron Judge’s brilliance, New York has four other players: Cody Bellinger (24), Trent Grisham (23), Jazz Chisolm Jr. (22) and second-year star Ben Rice (20) with at least 20 homers. Their 210 homers leads MLB by a pretty wide margin — the Dodgers are second with 191. New York became the first team in MLB history to have two nine-homer games in a season. They did it at home against Milwaukee on March 29, and at Tampa Bay on Aug. 19.
THE PICK: RED SOX (Moneyline)
The Red Sox have owned the Yankees this season going 8-1 against them, and winning 8 straight. I don’t think anything changes tonight, especially after a demoralizing 12-1 defeat yesterday at Yankee Stadium. Take the Red Sox on the moneyline!