A clutch ninth inning home run from Aaron Judge and a tight extra innings loss later, the New York Yankees need to channel some anger headed into Saturday night’s game.
They’ll once again face Hunter Dobbins, the Red Sox rookie who would apparently retire if the Yankees were the only team offering him a deal. Now add the controversy over his father’s alleged time in the Yankees farm system, of which there is no record.
From a Yankees perspective, this isn’t just tacky criticism for the sake of making a fun anti-New York quip. To likely be lying about familial Yankees ties in the aftermath? That’s straight bonehead behavior and makes Sunday’s 11-7 loss in the Bronx, which Dobbins started, sting even more.
The scene has shifted back to Fenway Park, and it’s even the same pitching matchup as Sunday. Now, the Yankees just have to flip the script and get a big win.
Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Betting Line: Yankees -1.5 (-175), O/U 8.5
Key Storyline: Can Yankees bats break through in Boston? Rivalry games have a knack for going in the exact opposite direction people expect. Just yesterday, we predicted a high-scoring contest despite Boston ace Garrett Crochet being on the mound. A 2-1 extra-innings loss later, we find ourselves asking this very question. How can the Yankees’ bats finally build a big lead?
They’re the better lineup on paper and on the field. It shouldn’t be a matter of if the Yankees score some more this time around, but when.
Pitching Matchup: Carlos Rodon (8-4, 2.87 ERA) vs Hunter Dobbins (3-1, 4.20 ERA). We should also note that the Yankees will view this as something of a redemption game. Rodon allowed five runs in five innings in his last start against Boston on Sunday. He’s 4-5 with a 4.29 ERA in 10 starts facing the Red Sox, but has generally pitched well against them. He was 2-1 with a 4.86 ERA in three starts last year, and the ERA shrinks to 3.21 if we eliminate the loss.
It should also be mentioned that Rodon’s current ground ball rate (GB%) is 42.6%, the highest its been since he was with the White Sox in 2019. He’ll be hoping for lots of whiffs and strikeouts on Saturday while Dobbins prays for some ground balls himself.
X-Factor: Cody Bellinger. The former MVP has bounced back well after his slow start, but can still be streaky. Bellinger was 0 for 4 against Boston last night and is also 3 for his last 21. Imagine what could have been if Bellinger, who’s actually hit .318 against lefties in 2025, got himself on base once or twice. Not that he has to put up Aaron Judge-like numbers, but the Yankees need a big game from him lest they want to bank on more late-inning heroics from Judge or anybody.
Considering Bellinger hit .333 in the Bronx leg of the series last weekend, Saturday is exactly when he needs to up his .214 career batting average at Fenway Park.
Prediction: From a New York sports betting apps standpoint, this should be a good pick for a Yankees win. Judge parlays of any kind are always a safe bet, and so could the over on Rodon’s strikeouts this time around. Former Yankees prospect Carlos Narvaez could be a productive pick on the Boston side, what with him looking like a Yankee killer in the making.
But at the final out, this looks more like the Yankees flipping the script and eking out a tough one. Yankees 5, Red Sox 3
