Editorial by: Graydon Fox

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Top 5 winners

1. cjavi***@gmail.com (250 PTS)
2. Andy Johnson (200 PTS)
3. Todd P Mitchell (200 PTS)
4. Travis Dixon (200 PTS)
5. Charlene Ledger (200 PTS)

Overview:

On Wednesday, April 11^th, the (5-5) New York Yankees will be on the road to take on the (8-1) Boston Red Sox.

The Crowd:

“The Crowd” projects a final score of Yankees 5.3 – Red Sox 3.7 with an over/under of 9.0.

Starting Pitchers:

NYY: Masahiro Tanaka (1-1, 2.92) vs BOS: David Price (1-0, 0.00)

Batting Stats:

Runs per game: Yankees 5.50 (4^th) > Red Sox 4.67 (13^th)

Batting Average: Red Sox .252 (7^th) > Yankees .237 (15^th)

On Base Percentage: Yankees .334 (9^th) > Red Sox .330 (12^th)

Total Bases: Yankees 146 (4^th) > Red Sox 131 (12^th)

Baserunning Stats:

Stolen Bases: Red Sox 6 (7^th) > Yankees 4 (17^th)

Pitching Stats:

Team Earned Run Average: Red Sox 2.69 (4^th) > Yankees 3.94 (16^th)

Batting Average Against: Red Sox .209 (4^th) > Yankees .227 (9^th)

Walks/Hits Per Innings Pitched: Red Sox 1.13 (5^th) > Yankees 1.20 (10^th)

Strikeouts: Yankees 119 (1^st) > Red Sox 90 (8^th)

Saves: Red Sox 4 (3^rd) > Yankees 1 (23^rd)

Fielding Stats:

Errors: Red Sox 0 (1^st) > Yankees 10 (28^th)

Summary:

The Yankees enter the game 4^th in the league in runs per game (5.50) and 16^th in team earned run average (3.94).  New York is (2-2) on the road this season.  The Yankees won all the off-season headlines by trading for National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton.  Stanton is hitting just (.167) this season and leads the league with 20 strikeouts in 42 at-bats.  Didi Gregorius is off to a hot start this season (.375, 3 HR, 10 RBI) while reigning rookie of the year Aaron Judge (.289, 2 HR, 7 RBI) looks to build on a historic first season.  The Yankees will have their hands full against David Price (1-0, 0.00) who looks to be in top form once again after a tough 2017 campaign.  The Yankees have had great success against Price hitting a combined .326 off him in 242 at-bats.  Gary Sanchez in particular has owned Price hitting .455 with 4 home runs.

Boston ranks 13^th in runs per game (4.67) and 4^th in team ERA (2.69).  The Red Sox are a perfect (3-0) at Fenway this season.  Boston had their own big signing reeling in slugger J.D. Martinez who is coming off a 45-homer season.  The Red Sox pitching has been excellent ranking top ten in a number of categories and they are the only team that has yet to commit an error in 2018.  Xander Bogaerts (.368, 2 HR, 9 RBI) could be a sleeper MVP pick while Mookie Betts (.364) is also off to a nice start.  Bogaerts was recently placed on the disabled list so Boston will be without their hottest hitter for the series against New York.  The Red Sox will be going up against Masahiro Tanaka (1-1, 2.92).  Tanaka has fared well against Boston holding their hitters to a combined .241 average in 245 at-bats.  J.D. Martinez is the one player who has fared well against Tanaka hitting .556 with 2 homers off him.

Bottom Line:

The Yankees and their right handed heavy lineup have given David Price fits in the past and I see no reason why that won’t continue.  Boston has played really well out of the gate but will be without their most productive hitter thus far in Xander Bogaerts.  If Masahiro Tanaka can give the Yankees a quality start, then their lockdown bullpen will slam the door and give New York the win.

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