Baseball Betting Series – Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

It’s no great surprise that the New York Yankees are leading the American League East division again. What is surprising is that the Boston Red Sox are only a few games behind after such a pitiful (2-10) start to the 2011 baseball season. 

The Yankees will look to extend their lead in the division at home this weekend as the Red Sox come to Yankee Stadium for an important three-game series.  The month of May always proves to separate the streaks from the true talent, and Boston is hoping to continue its newfound success against the MLB odds.  But the Red Sox are never welcome in New York, and this series will be the first one there this season.

The Red Sox already took two games of three from New York in 2011.  The baseball betting odds for this series and more will be updated before Friday’s action begins.

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
May 13-15, 2011
Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York

Game 1 – Friday, May 13 at 7:05 PM ET, TV: NESN, YES
Game 2 – Saturday, May 14 at 7:10 PM ET, TV: FOX
Game 3 – Sunday, May 15 at 8:05 PM ET, TV: ESPN

Game 1 action on Friday night will feature two starting pitchers looking to avenge losses in the earlier series matchup.  Bartolo Colon took the loss at Fenway Park back on April 8, while his counterpart Clay Buchholz received a loss for Boston the following day.

The two pitchers will meet in a prime-time betting battle, as these two historic franchises hit off the weekend series. Colon comes into the game with a lower season ERA, at 3.86, and with two wins on the season.  Colon has struck out 27 batters in 37 innings of play, while allowing 16 earned runs. Buchholz has been a bit inconsistent for Boston, going 3-3 with an ERA of 4.19.  In over 28 innings played this season, the right-hander has given up 18 earned runs off 44 hits. 

The two on the mound have quite similar season stats and should match up well.  However, Colon should get the win, as the Yankee bats have been hitting well, putting consistent runs on the board over the team’s last 10 games. Also, the home-field advantage in a place like Yankee Stadium can affect the mental state of a young pitcher like Buchholz.  In his career, Buchholz has not fared well against the likes of Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez. 

The best MLB bet for Game 1 is with the hometown Yankees.

Game 2 looks to be the best game of the series, as each team sends its star to the stripe.  The Red Sox will go with Josh Beckett, leading the rotation with a stellar ERA of 1.98. Opposite him, the Yankees will go with the ace CC Sabathia, who has lowered his season average to 2.89, still the best on the Yankees roster.

Despite only having two season wins, Beckett has struck out 40 batters while allowing only 27 hits this season. Sabathia, on the other hand, has allowed 53 hits in just as many innings of play, with 23 runs on the season. 

Although Sabathia is the Yankees go-to man, he won’t have the power to outduel Beckett on the mound.  The baseball betting odds should favor the visiting Red Sox for Game 2.

The final game of the series also looks to be another pitching duel.  The Red Sox will go with Jon Lester, with a team-high four season victories.  As the leader of the Boston rotation, Lester has allowed only 17 runs in over 51 innings of play. 

Freddy Garcia will start the game for New York.  Garcia has only pitched 31 innings this season, but in that time has only given up nine runs.  As Garcia continues to get more playing time, he has continually improved.  The New York righty should get the W for his team to end the series.

MLB Betting Series Preview:  New York Yankees to win two out of three games.