<p>The first-place Yankees continue their run as the best team in Baseball when they open a four-game weekend series with the rival Red Sox at Fenway Park Thursday night. Ace Gerrit Cole gets the call for New York here against rookie righty Josh Winckowski for Boston.</p>
<p>How are we playing this game with our <b>free NYY/BOS pick</b>?</p>
<h2>MLB Betting Odds</h2>
<p>Thursday's baseball betting lines opened New York and Cole at around -165 over Boston and Winckowski, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Early betting drove the Yankees to -167 and the total to 9.</p>
<p>The Yanks could also be found at around -105, giving the run and a half on the run line.</p>
<h2>Yankees-Red Sox MLB Betting Preview</h2>
<p>New York just split two games at Pittsburgh, losing Tuesday 5-2 but winning Wednesday night 16-0. Just before that, the Yankees took two of three at Cleveland but just before that, they lost a game at Houston. So New York is only 3-3 over its last six games.</p>
<p>Boston, meanwhile, just dropped two of three games at home to Tampa Bay, losing Wednesday's series rubber match 7-1. Just before that, the Red Sox lost two of three at the Cubs, and just before that, they lost two of three at Toronto. So Boston is 3-6 over its last nine games.</p>
<p>At 59-23 overall, the Yankees lead the AL East by a whopping 14 games over the 45-37 Red Sox. New York is also 5.5 games up on Houston in the battle for the best record in the American League.</p>
<p>Boston is also tied with Tampa Bay for the lead in the AL wild-card race.</p>
<p>This series is the second meeting between these teams this season; back in April, the Yanks took two of three from the Sox in the Bronx.</p>
<h2>Thursday's Pitching Match-Up</h2>
<p><a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/456631&quot; title="Josh Winckowski Pitching Game Logs">Winckowski</a> is 2/5 on quality starts this season and four outs away from four for his last four. Last Saturday, he held the Cubs to two runs - one earned - and six hits through six innings, with one walk and six strikeouts, although Boston lost that game 3-1. And over his last four starts, he's allowed just five ER and 23 hits through 23 innings.</p>
<p>The Red Sox are 3-2 with Winckowski this season and probably should be a game better than that, based on his performances.</p>
<p>This will be Winckowski's first career action against the Yankees.</p>
<p><a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/48274&quot; title="Gerrit Cole Pitching Game Stats">Cole </a>is 11/16 on quality starts this year, working on a run of four in a row. Last Saturday, he held Cleveland to two runs and three hits through six innings of a 13-4 New York victory. And over his last four starts, he's allowed just four runs and 13 hits through 26 1/3 innings, with nine walks against 33 whiffs.</p>
<p>The Yanks are 12-4 with Cole this season, 5-1 his last six times out.</p>
<p>Over his last six starts against Boston, five last year, and one earlier this season, Cole allowed 18 ER and 32 hits, including eight homers, through 28 innings. New York split those six games, and four of those games played over their totals.</p>
<h2>Splits With the Sticks </h2>
<p>New York is batting .243 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .328 team OBP and a .434 team slugging percentage. Numbers like those lead us to rank this line-up among the top five in Baseball in this split. However, left-handed stick Rizzo missed the two games in Pittsburgh with a sore back and is listed as questionable for Thursday night.</p>
<p>Boston is slashing .258/.318/.405 against right-handed pitching. But 3B Devers (.327 this season) also missed his team's last two games with a sore hammy and is listed as questionable for Thursday.</p>
<h2>The Bullpens </h2>
<p>The Boston bullpen owns a 3.67 ERA this season, along with a 1.23 WHIP.</p>
<p>The New York pen owns a 2.67 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Numbers like those lead us to rank this unit among the top half-dozen bullpens in Baseball.<br />
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<span style="font-size:14px; color:#008000;">Get more details:</span> <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1603116">Yankees vs. Red Sox 7/7/22 Betting Stats</a>
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<h2>MLB Betting Trends</h2>
<ul>
<li>The Yankees are 25-14 on the road this season and 40-15 against right-handed starters.</li>
<li>The Red Sox are 21-18 at home and 31-32 against RH starters.</li>
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<p>Totals Report</p>
<ul>
<li>The Under is 44-36 in Yankees games this season.</li>
<li>The Under is 41-32 in Red Sox games.</li>
<li>The Under is 20-15 at Fenway Park this season.</li>
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