The Red Sox and Mets have combined for two in-season managerial firings and 101 losses this year, and now they get to inflict more misery on each other.
Bush’s Picks
BOSNYM
BOSNYM
OverUnder
Best BetRed Sox
Boston's the more trustworthy team right now, riding an 8-2 stretch into this series while New York is still finding stable footing under a brand-new interim manager. The Red Sox lineup has been legitimately hot, and that form is worth more than New York's two wins over a reeling Atlanta pitching staff. Back the Red Sox to win outright.
Red Sox
+8-2 over last 10 games, hottest stretch of season
+Duran and Contreras both swinging it well
+Swept Angels, momentum into break
−Suarez exited last start with adductor tightness
−Rotation already gutted by IL (Crochet, Houck, Oviedo)
−Still 8 games under .500 overall
Mets
+Won last 2, including a 10-9 comeback in Atlanta
+New voice in Andy Green shaking up the dugout
+Nothing left to lose, playing loose
−Allowed 54 runs during a 6-game skid before that
−Missing Semien, Robert Jr., Polanco, Holmes to injury
−Last place in NL East, 38-53
This is what a lost season looks like from both dugouts. Boston fires Alex Cora in April, hands the job to Triple-A Worcester's Chad Tracy, and somehow keeps grinding. New York fires Carlos Mendoza after a six-game skid, taps Andy Green, and is still trying to find its footing. Neither team is playing for October. Both are playing for something to feel good about before the All-Star break.
Boston's actually been the better story lately. The Red Sox are 8-2 over their last 10 games, capped by a three-game sweep of the Angels that included Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras going back-to-back deep in the finale. The one hiccup: Ranger Suarez walked off in the third inning of that final win with left adductor tightness, and Boston's pitching staff can't afford to lose another arm given how thin the rotation already is behind him.
Show fees
7:15 PM ET
Spread
ML
Total
BOS Red Sox
NYM Mets
The Mets, meanwhile, are coming off a stretch that saw them give up 54 runs across a six-game losing streak before finally scratching out two wins in Atlanta, a 10-9 slugfest and a 7-6 nail-biter. That's the theme of this Mets team right now — nothing's clean, everything's a fight, and a $375 million payroll still has them buried in the NL East basement.
Boston Red Sox
Jul 9?@ White Sox—
Jul 8?@ White Sox—
Jul 7?@ White Sox—
New York Mets
Jul 9?vs Royals—
Jul 8?vs Royals—
Jul 7?vs Royals—
Recent form.
Green is 1-1 since taking over and still figuring out how his roster fits together, while Tracy has quietly turned Boston into a team that at least looks competent again. The health situation up and down both rosters is brutal — Boston's without half its rotation and its presumptive left fielder, New York's missing its center fielder and closer options — which makes this Friday, July 10 opener less about who's good and more about who's less banged up right now.
Boston Red Sox
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
New York Mets
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
First pitch at Citi Field is 7:15 PM ET to open a series between two teams with nothing to lose and, weirdly, some momentum to protect. Boston wants to ride its road-trip form into the break; New York just wants consecutive wins to feel like something other than an accident.
