Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Prediction:

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees renew their historic rivalry in the Bronx on Thursday. The Yankees are looking for every win they can get to hold off the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East race.

Nestor Cortes gets the start for the Yankees, his first start since September 1. His last pitching appearance was from out of the bullpen last week against the Chicago Cubs.

Cortes has allowed at least three runs in six of his past nine starts with at least four runs allowed in five of those starts. As a starter, he owns a 4.08 ERA with 1.3 home runs per nine innings allowed.

The Yankees back up Cortes With a bullpen that has a 3.95 ERA since July 1, 13th in the league. Their offense leads the American League with over five runs per game and nearly 1.5 home runs per game.

Since July 1, the Red Sox 6.18 bullpen ERA has been the worst in baseball. They look to starting pitcher Cooper Criswell to alleviate some of the pressure from the bullpen.

Criswell has a 4.11 ERA overall this season with just 0.9 home runs allowed per nine innings. He has been allowing a lot of contact, with only 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Since the All-Star Break, the Red Sox rank third in the league with over 4.9 runs per game. The Yankees rank second in this span. The Yankees and Red Sox are also the top two teams in the American League in on-base plus slugging since the All-Star Break.

With Criswell’s ERA jumping to 4.43 on the road coupled with the Red Sox bullpen woes, two of the top offenses in the American League since the All-Star Break will show their might on Thursday.

MLB Pick: Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Over 8.5 Runs (Would Still Play Over 9 Runs)

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