Red Sox vs. Yankees Betting Preview July 5

The red hot Red Sox come into the Bronx Friday as a +118 underdog against a struggling Yankees team.

The Yankees struggles of late are real.  They've only won two of their last ten games.  Boston has been playing quite well of late.  This series taking place in New York assures value for the Red Sox each game while the Yankees remain in a vulnerable spot.  Boston has won six of the last ten games in this series.

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Tanner Houck (7-6, 2.67 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 105 strikeouts); Yankees: Nestor Cortes Jr. (4-7, 3.51 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 98 strikeouts)

Opening Line: Yankees -141, Red Sox +119; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

New York has gone 24-17 in home games and 54-35 overall but have struggled of late, as noted above. Yankees pitchers have a collective 3.60 ERA, which ranks seventh in the majors.

Houck has allowed just 9 hits off of 52 at bats versus this Yankees roster with a single home run and two RBIs (.173).  He is coming off a bad performance in which he gave up eight runs — seven earned — over 4 1/3 innings in a loss to the Padres on Saturday.  Houck did not have a loss since May 15 prior to that last start. In fact, he allowed just four runs across 12.1 innings over the span of his two starts prior to his last appearance. Boston has won seven of Houck’s last eight starts.

Nestor Cortes has been pummeled by these Red Sox players.  They have 13 hits in 34 at bats with Rob Refsnyder 6 for 10.  Rafael Devers has two homers off of Cortes but has hit just 3 of 11.

Cortes allowed three runs with five strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings in a loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday.