Boston at New York

Boston’s bats have gone quiet at the worst time, shut out by New York to open this series last night and blanked two days before that in Miami. The Red Sox have scored zero runs in two of their last three games and turn around for tonight’s nightcap still searching for their first run of the series. New York isn’t walking in scorching either, needing just one run to win last night’s tight opener. Boston carries a 3.46 ERA on the season and New York sits a shade better at 3.22, both playable numbers if either bat wakes up, but neither has offered much evidence of that the last two nights. Neither club has named a starter for the nightcap, so this shapes up as two lineups in a rut against pitching staffs that have held their own all year. That is the shape of a total that catches my eye: a short home favorite with both offenses coming off quiet outputs. I had Boston on the moneyline last week in Miami and cashed a 4-1 win, but tonight is a different look: two cold bats and a number that should hold. Take the UNDER tonight in the second game of the doubleheader.