The subject of today’s analysis and props is the Sunday night ESPN game, which covers one of the greatest rivalries in sports, between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

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Here are the numbers that have been posted:

Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Props Preview

Red Sox vs. Yankees Betting Report

MLB Betting Odds: Yankees -130 / Red Sox +110

Total: 9.5 Runs (Under -115 / Over -105)

The virus hit again.

A number of Yankees got flagged for COVID and that forced the cancellation of the series opener on Friday. Because the Red Sox are a big draw, they decided not to a doubleheader but instead make it up on a separate day.

So now the Yankees are without a number of players, including Aaron Judge, Gio Urshula, Kyle Higashioka, and Luke Voit, who has not sidelined because of COVID but instead a tweak of his left knee.

And going into a game with an opponent who had beaten them all seven times in the 2021 season, it was incredibly important that Gerrit Cole be on his game.

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And he was.

Cole had gone into the All-Star break off a three-hit shutout over heavy-hitting Houston, but there were still people (like ourselves) who were not totally convinced that the crackdown on “sticky stuff” hadn’t gotten the best of him.

On Saturday he gave up five hits and a single run over six innings before the game was called because of rain. He had stuck out 12 Astros in the previous effort; here he set down eleven batters on strikes.

The game was a strange one. In the middle of the sixth, Alex Cora took his team off the field when a fan threw a baseball at Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo.

Nathan Eovaldi had gone through four innings with a no-hitter, but in the sixth the Yankees got back-to-back homers from Gary Sanchez and Grayber Torres. One of the reasons Sanchez was in the game was because Higashioka, Cole’s favorite catcher, was forced out by the MLB protocol.

And so there was gratification, as Cole had been pounded the last time he saw the Red Sox, giving up three homers in five innings.

But we would note that Jameson Taillon (4-4, 4.90 ERA) is not Gerrit Cole.

However, four of his last five outings have been relatively solid, and interestingly enough, he has not lost a decision since May 31,although the Yankees have gone 7-10 in his starts.

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Red Sox at Yankees Props Predictions (July 18th)

We don’t see Martin Perez going all that long. And if he does theer could be trouble. He hasn’t completed the sixth inning in any of his last seven starts.He averages 76.5 pitches per game. He averages a little less than 20 pitches per strikeout.

What’s kind of interesting about him is that opponents are hitting .321 against him the second time through the order. Will he get through the fourth? Who knows.

We can get a price of +110 that he’ll have UNDER 3.5 strikeouts, and we’ll take it.

Taillon’s strikeouts prop is a little more difficult. He is liable to go longer. With one strikeout for every 16 pitches, he is going to be in the territory where he is coming close to the 5.5 K’s the prop calls for. With a little extra rest and the Yanks missing Jonathan Loasiaga, Wandy Peralta and Nestor Cortes, he could see more time out there. He topped 100 pitches only a couple of starts ago.

The -167 we’d have to lay for him to be under 5.5 strikeouts means no value to us. But we’re okay with the +127 price on the OVER.

As far as a total bases prop is concerned, we should note that Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees has had eight at-bats against Perez. And among his four hits has been two homers. He’s +102 to go OVER 1.5 total bases, and we’ll take it. Also, DJ LeMahieu is 5-for-13 lifetime against Perez, with a double, a homer and six RBI, with an OPS of 1.222. He may be worth an OVER 1.5 as well, with his price established at -112.

And it’s no coincidence that DeMahieu and Stanton bat 1-2 in the Yankee lineup.

Read our betting guides on MLB first team to score props and MLB total bases props.