There’s no better rivalry in all of baseball, and it’s always better when both the Boston Red Sox (103-47, plus-35.42 betting units) and the New York Yankees (91-58, minus-11.88 units) are World Series contenders. They’ll meet Thursday night at Yankee Stadium in the finale of a three-game series; YES, NESN and MLB Network provide the coverage at 7:05 PM ET.
The Red Sox are +350 favorites on the World Series futures market at press time, and their chances of success look better now that Eduardo Rodriguez (3.52 ERA) is back in the rotation. The talented southpaw will make his fourth start for Boston since his latest stint on the DL; Rodriguez looks in fine form after holding the Toronto Blue Jays to five hits and one run last Thursday in six innings of work, leading Boston (–240 at home) to a 4-3 victory and improving his team record to 18-4 (plus-12.46 units).
New York (+1000) responds with Masahiro Tanaka, who maybe hasn’t pitched quite as well this year as his 3.47 ERA would suggest. Tanaka is down 1.72 units on a team record of 16-9, although he’s allowed just one earned run in his last three starts combined
