MLB Baseball
2026-06-25 - New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Thursday 25th June 2026 - Scheduled 7:05pm EST
12:05am (British Time)
Preview
Just when it looked the Boston Red Sox (32-46) will win a series to give them momentum to take into the next one against their biggest rivals, the bullpen fell apart and the struggling Red Sox were beaten again.
Now they have to take on the New York Yankees (48-31) who won a series in Detroit and have moved 3 games clear in the American League East. The Red Sox are almost certainly going to be thinking about trades that could reset the team for the 2027 season, but that will have to wait a few days as they look to give the fans at Fenway Park something to cheer.
It continues to be a really poor season for a team with the expectations carried by the Boston Red Sox and it has quickly become one where transition is going to be the word of the day. Some of the older players on the roster are likely to be traded before August 3rd, but there are others that look like they can be built around and one of those starting pitchers heads to the mound on Thursday.
Connelly Early is a sophomore pitcher in the Major League and the young player has a 6-5 record and 3.64 ERA in fifteen starts made this season. He had just six starts in his rookie campaign, but Early has shown that he can develop into a key part of the starting rotation for the Red Sox and he will likely have plenty more starts in 2026 to continue his development.
He had lost the first three starts in June with a 7.36 ERA, but Connelly Early bounced back last time out by holding the Seattle Mariners to a single run in 6 Innings completed on the road. That resulted in Early picking up the decision win, but he did absorb the decision loss in an earlier match up against the New York Yankees when allowing three runs into the 6th Inning on the road.
Connelly Early also started Game 3 of the Wild Card Series on the road against the New York Yankees and was withdrawn in the 4th Inning having allowed three runs in his time on the mound.
The Yankees will counter with a sophomore Major League pitcher of their own and there is a real excitement about the development of Cam Schlittler and what he can become in the years ahead. Last year he made fourteen regular season starts and finished with a 2.96 ERA, but Cam Schlittler has been even better in 2026.
This time he has made sixteen starts and Schlittler has an 8-3 record and an American League best 1.71 ERA.
There is not a pitcher in the Major League that can go through the entire season without having a bad outing and June began with Cam Schlittler giving up four runs in just over 4 Innings thrown to pick up the decision loss against the Cleveland Guardians.
However, he bounced back in the fashion everyone associated with the Yankees would hope to see and Schlittler has given up two runs in the last three starts, which has covered almost 19 completed Innings.
One of those was against the Boston Red Sox when Cam Schlittler held this team to a single run into the 6th Inning in the Bronx, while earlier this season the pitcher allowed one earned run in 8 Innings thrown at Fenway Park.
Strong pitching from the entire unit has been key for the New York Yankees who have won four of the five games played between these rivals in 2026.
Prediction
They may be without a couple of key batters, but the New York Yankees continue to display strong pitching to allow those in the lineup to do what they need to do in order for the team to keep winning.
Cam Schlittler vs Connelly Early could be a match up to watch in years to come, but right now the former is playing at a superior level and can set the table for the Yankees to maintain the season dominance over the Boston Red Sox.
The Pick :
Boston Red Sox 2-4 New York Yankees
