MLB London Series: Yankees vs. Red Sox
Venue: London Stadium, London (Eng)
Date: Saturday, 29 June 2019 – Sunday 30, June 2019
BetXChange Odds to win the AL East:
History
There is a reason that the Yankees and the Red Sox rivalry is seen as the best in baseball and perhaps the best sporting rivalry in the entire world. The two teams have played each other an insane 2,262 times since their first game in 1901. Of those games, the Yankees have won 1,206, the Red Sox have won 1,019, and there have been 14 ties (back when that was a thing). The teams often meet with something significant on the line and the Yankees hold a 12-11 series edge in postseason play.
Season so far
The Yankees are dominating the American League East as we role towards the All-Star Break. Their 52-28 record gives them a .650 winning percentage and they have been especially hot recently as they are 9-1 over their last 10 games.
With home runs being hit at a historic rate in 2019 it is probably no surprise that the Yankees success has, in large part, been due to their ability to hit the long ball. Back-to-back home runs in the first inning on Tuesday night from D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Judge saw the Yankees set a new major league record with home runs in 28 straight games. This is something that the Red Sox need to watch out for in London.
The Red Sox are still in the hunt for the division at 44-38 on the season, but they will be worried about falling further behind on this two-game London swing. Their .537 winning percentage isn’t ideal given that Yankee’s pace and they have fallen to nine games back after going 6-4 in their last 10 outings.
Yankees
The Yankees will be starting Masahiro Tanaka in the Saturday game, a player who is in good form after pitching a pair of strong outings last week. His two-hit, 10-strikeout domination of the Rays was an indicator of the kind of stuff he is throwing when on his game this season.
The Sunday game will be a little different as coach Aaron Boone has hinted the Yankees will use the game with their opener/bullpen strategy that has worked well in 2019. Chad Green, who is 7-0 this season, will start the game, but he has been pulled as early as an inning into the game to allow a rotation of bullpen arms to take over.
The other major note is that outfielder Giancarlo Stanton will miss the trip due to a PCL sprain.
Red Sox
The Red Sox will open with Rick Porcello as their pitcher on Saturday in London. Porcello is 5-7 on the season with a 4.52 ERA in his 16 starts. Last time out against the Blue Jays he gave up five runs off of eight hits in six innings.
The Red Sox will be hoping that Porcello can at least get them into the middle-innings with a shot at a win. While their late-innings relief has teetered between average and awful, their long relief pitchers have shown good stuff and are capable of keeping the Yankees in check if the game is still in the balance.
Best Bets
This is going to be as friendly of a park to hitters as any in MLB. There is a ton of foul territory, 4,000 more square feet than the Oakland Coliseum, but the foul-line walls are just 330 feet away. The centerfield wall, while 16 feet high, is only 385 feet from the plate, the shortest of any park. This means that there should be plenty of runs scored, something that favours the Yankees bats.
Expect the Yankees to win as they continue their march towards the American League crown at 1.75 with BetXChange.
