MLB Baseball BETTING PREVIEW - Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees

MLB Baseball

2026-08-28 - Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

A Sports Betting Preview by FirstDown

Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees
United States : Major League Baseball
Friday 28th August 2026 - Scheduled 7:15pm EST
12:15am (British Time)

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Preview

A disappointing home loss on Thursday means the gap to the Tampa Bay Rays at the top of the American League East has been expanded to 4 games and the New York Yankees (75-58) have a big series to be played this weekend. That series is against the Boston Red Sox (73-60) who are only 2 games behind the Yankees and who will still have ambitions of finishing with a better record than their rivals which will at least mean hosting a Wild Card Playoff Series against New York even if the Rays cannot be chased down.

The last series between these long time rivals ended with Boston sweeping a four game set at home at the end of June during a time when the Red Sox were getting right back into the mix in the Playoff race.

The Red Sox had won five in a row before dropping the last game against the Miami Marlins and they will give the ball to Patrick Sandoval to open this series.

Patrick Sandoval has a 1-2 record and 4.54 ERA in eight starts this season and recent starts have shown a bit more consistency, even if the pitcher has not been going too deep into games. He has allowed two runs in four of the last five starts with the exception being a game in which Patrick Sandoval was knocked around for seven runs, although the starter has only completed 6 Innings once this season.

This will be the first time Patrick Sandoval has pitched against the New York Yankees since 2024 and the first time since putting on the Boston Red Sox uniform. Two years ago, Sandoval only allowed two runs in 6 Innings thrown against the New York Yankees as a member of the Los Angeles Angels and he will be confident he can keep this inconsistent batting lineup from doing too much damage.

It is going to be important for the Boston starter to do that as the New York Yankees turn to one of the stronger pitchers in the rotation.

Cam Schlittler has an 11-6 record and 2.16 ERA in his twenty-seven starts in his sophomore season in the Major League. It has not been all plain-sailing for the young pitcher, but Cam Schlittler has shown great temperament and he will start this game unbeaten in six and with a 2.06 ERA.

As mentioned, even when things have gone wrong, Cam Schlittler has bounced back- he lasted 3 Innings and allowed four runs earlier this month against the St Louis Cardinals, but Schlittler has bounced back to throw over 18 Innings in his last three starts and allow a total of three earned runs.

This is the third start of the season against the Boston Red Sox and Cam Schlittler has a 1-1 record, despite allowing two earned runs. In the most recent start, Schlittler was tagged with the decision loss thanks to mistakes made in the field as his time on the mound ended with four runs allowed, but none of those being earned runs.

Prediction

The next three days could determine whether the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox can find the momentum to begin pulling back the Tampa Bay Rays, but it could also be a period of time that has a big impact on the Wild Card Seedings.

Both teams will be keen to get one over on their rival at any time, but this series has plenty on the line and the New York Yankees may be able to ride the starter a little longer to snap the run of defeats to the Boston Red Sox.

The Pick :

New York Yankees 4-2 Boston Red Sox

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back New York Yankees to Win at -153 with Bookmaker.EU