Are the Red Sox or Yankees Saturday’s Smart MLB Betting Picks?

There’s no doubt that entering the weekend, the biggest MLB Betting Picks matchup comes from Boston, where the Red Sox will host the Yankees.

And with those Red Sox struggling, can they finally pick up their first win of the season?

New York Yankees (4-2 SU, 2-4 R/L, 4-2 O/U) at Boston Red Sox (0-6 SU, 0-6 R/L, 1-5 O/U)

Saturday, April 9: 1:05 p.m. Fox, Live from Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Betting Odds:

New York:

(Ivan Nova-R)

Boston:

(Clay Buchholz-R)

At the time of publication, Boston was off to a start no one expected: A winless six game trip through Texas and Cleveland to open the season. Baseball’s biggest offseason spenders are now 0-6 and welcoming their biggest rival to Fenway Park this weekend.

And while there’s plenty of blame to go around in Boston, the largest chunk has to go to a high-priced offense that has been baseball’s biggest flop in 2011. The Red Sox spent millions of dollars on first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford, and when pairing them with returning All-Stars Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, this was supposed to be the most feared lineup in baseball. Instead the Red Sox have been abysmal, and as things stand, ranks No. 29 in the MLB in team batting average (.181) and 28th in runs scored (2.67 per game). They are coming off an embarrassing three game trip to Cleveland, where they scored six runs total.

Which means that if Boston is your MLB Betting Picks, everything could rest on the right shoulder of Saturday’s starter Clay Buchholz. Buchholz was a stud in 2010, but got off to some struggles to start this campaign. In his first outing of 2011, Buchholz allowed four earned runs in six innings, in a 5-1 loss in Texas. Still, this is a pitcher that went 17-7 a year ago, with a sub-2.50 ERA. He will be better Saturday afternoon.

And truthfully, we expect Buchholz to do enough to get a win in Fenway Park this weekend.

While it might not be pretty, we do expect the Red Sox to get through their offensive funk against Yankees starter Ivan Nova. The 24-year-old Nova only has nine career starts, and we expect a struggling Boston offense to take full advantage. Nova looked good in his first outing, allowing three earned runs in six innings of work, but with just three strikeouts his stuff is far from overpowering. An experienced Boston lineup should be able to take advantage of that.

Ultimately, the Red Sox need to win a game at some point, and Saturday seems like the day they’ll do it. At home and with Buchholz on the mound, look for the Red Sox to win a tight one.

They’re the MLB Betting Picks to make this weekend.

MLB Betting Picks: Boston