New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox Predictions, Betting Odds & Picks

• One of the greatest rivalries in sports is back
• Who’s hot and who’s not
• X-factor to watch on both sides

New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox Odds

Odds presented by: DraftKings Sportsbook

Trends to Watch (as of 6/25)

• Yankees are 4-0 in their last 4 road games vs. a team with a winning record
• Yankees are 4-1 in their last 5 vs. a team with a winning record
• Yankees are 50-24 in their last 74 during game 2 of a series
• Over is 4-1 in Yankees last 5 vs. American League East
• Over is 3-1-1 in Yankees last 5 overall
• Over is 6-2 in Yankees last 8 road games
• Yankees are 23-9 in the last 32 head-to-head meetings
• Over is 13-5-1 in the last 19 meetings in Boston
• Red Sox are 6-1 in their last 7 Saturday games
• Red Sox are 18-7 in their last 25 vs. American League East
• Red Sox are 1-6 in their last 7 games vs. a left-handed starter
• Over is 3-0-1 in Red Sox last 4 games vs. a left-handed starter

New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox Predictions and Picks

Garcia’s 2021 record: (30-24-2)

How to Watch New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox

The Heated Rivalry Is Back and It Feels so Good

The crowds are once again packed, the Yankees and Red Sox are playing angsty baseball games while fighting atop the AL East with the All-Star Break almost in sight and suddenly all almost feels right and normal with the world.

The Yankees and Red Sox both have their eyes on the postseason and they’re going to have to go through one another to get there.

Boston got the best of New York in game one 5-3 and in game two of this set it’s going to be the lefty Jordan Montgomery for the Yankees facing off against Nathan Eovaldi for the Red Sox — who’ve had somewhat equivalent seasons.

Starting with Montgomery, the lefty is starting to look and feel like a big leaguer and while he hasn’t been ‘wowing anybody’ you feel like you know what you’ll get when he’s on the bump — and that’s a chance to be in the ball game wheen the sixth inning rolls around.

Montgomery is 3-1 on the year with a 4.03 ERA and 1.17 WHIP but has been markedly consistent. He’s completed five innings or more in 11 of his 14 starts and has given up three runs or fewer nine of his past 11 starts.

On the other side, Eovaldi has been somewhat similar — not great, but consistent enough to get the job done. The 31-year-old righty is 7-4 on the year with a 3.90 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. Eovaldi has certainly been up and down lately, going 0-2 in his past three starts, giving up eight total runs in just 15.2 innings. Two of those starts he didn’t go beyond four innings but in one of them he threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball.

He will certainly hope to have that form when he starts on Saturday evening.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Let’s do a little catchup of one player on each team who has been particularly strong of late and then another where they’re starting to slump a bit.

For the Yankees, nobody has been hotter the last week than Gary Sanchez. The catcher who has been trying to find that former All-Star form for the better part of the last two seasons has been on a tear, going 6-for-17 with three home runs and seven RBIs. He leads the team in OBP 450), slugging (1.000) and OPS (1.450) during that stretch.

One of the coldest hitters in the Bronx Bombers’ lineup if not all of baseball? Gleyber Torres. Torres is just 1-for-his-last-26 entering the series and he’s seen his average drop 33 points over the past two weeks.

On the flip side, Enrique Hernandez has stood out for Boston in recent games. The centerfielder is 5-for-16 with three doubles, a home run, three RBIs and three walks — his OBP is .429 and OPS is 1.116, both which are the best on the team during this stretch.

Meanwhile, Alex Verdugo is hitting a much cooler than usual .217 over the past week and is just 3-for-18 the past five games. Verdugo has slowed down a bit in June — with the lowest average, OBP, and OPS of any month this season

X-Factors to Watch

For Boston, there are a number of hitters who could be considered the best on the team. But if this team is going to make a run in October, it needs JD Martinez to get right again.

Martinez was one of the best hitters in baseball in April — he belted nine home runs and drove in 25 runs in the first month of the season. Since then, in Almost two full months, he’s added just five home runs and 21 RBIs. Martinez is hitting a cool .250 this month with just two long balls and seven RBI.

If there is a silver lining, it’s that five of those RBI came in the past two series against the Rays and Royals. Since May 15th, Martinez’s average has dropped 40 points.

For New York, we’re looking at Giancarlo Stanoton. He’s hit just one home run in the past 15 games, but despite the drop in power, he’s had a nice month. Stanton is hitting .304 in October with a .429 OBP — both by far the best of the season to this point.