MLB Betting: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox Series
by Bovada Sportsbook Staff | May 31, 2012
Scan the standings in the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays sit on top while the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox — with their big payroll and even bigger disabled lists — languish at third and fifth respectively. But you just knew the baseball gods couldn’t let that slide, and both clubs are racing back to the top to reclaim their place as the “Bradgelina” of baseball.
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The Yankees were never doubted in the Bovada Sportsbook. Third-baseman Alex Rodriguez isn’t dominating like he used to and we won’t see closer Mariano Rivera putting batters to sleep till 2013, but the Bronx Bombers are still sitting at 9-1 odds to win the World Series and 9-2 to win the AL Pennant. Though New York didn’t win their recent three-game set versus the Los Angeles Angels they were able to snap the eight-game winning streak of the red-hot California club on May 30. The Yankees did it with the new Yankee trio of center fielder Curtis Granderson, second baseman Robinson Cano and Rivera replacement, Rafael Soriano. Before their three-game stint in L.A., New York racked up five in a row and have taken six of their last 10, sitting just 1.5 games back of the Rays and Orioles. The “Grandy Man’s” batting average will never be respectable but the young vet is still picking up the slack in the deep-ball department, hitting 16 home runs and 29 RBI. Meanwhile Cano is batting a solid .286 with 22 RBI after a slow start. And you couldn’t ask for any better from Soriano, with pressure only a pinstripes player could love the replacement reliever has posted a 1.96 ERA and has yet to blow a save, or a moneyline wager.
But it definitely hasn’t been all the “new” Yankees pushing New York back to the top. Derek Jeter is playing as young as his girlfriends, tearing up the plate with a .336 batting average in the lead-off spot. The Yankees can take their usual spot at the top this weekend with a three-game series at Detroit. Detroit is ripe for the hitting as they’ve won just three games in their nine-game road trip, including three straight to the Red Sox.
And speaking of the Red Sox, you can’t have a Yankee show without Boston making a little noise from the bleachers. Though they’ve racked up seven of their last 10 and are just 2.5-games back of the AL East lead the Bovada Sportsbook doesn’t quite trust them yet, putting them with the Toronto Blue Jays with 20-1 odds to win the World Series and 12-1 for the pennant. The injury to second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s thumb probably has the oddsmakers as nervous as Red Sox fans, but the Boston run has been primarily without its young star. Luckily designated hitter and first baseman David Ortiz hasn’t slowed down and third baseman Kevin Youkilis finally shaking off injuries to raise his batting average from a paltry .219 in late April to an encouraging .250 in May. If Youkilis keeps making contact and Pedroia is his usual throwback self (avoiding the DL), it could be another Yankees/Red Sox dog fight through the summer.
After their fourth-straight game with Detroit the Red Sox have a crucial three-game series versus Toronto. The Blue Jays have quietly flirted with the number-one spot themselves in the AL East, sitting just two-games back.
With current AL East leaders Baltimore and Tampa Bay losing five and three straight respectively, we could have a new league leader by Monday.
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