Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia Face Off in Series Finale

Sports Betting News - August 23rd, 2009 - Written by Ryan Smith

The first two games at Fenway Park this weekend could not have gone much different. After the Yankees blew out the Red Sox 20-11 on Friday night, Saturday's game was a completely different story when the Red Sox got their revenge by thrashing the Yankees 14-1. The three game series will come to an end tonight when the two aces from both teams take the mound. The Yankees' C.C. Sabathia (14-7, 3.58 ERA) will face off against Boston's Josh Beckett (14-4, 3.38 ERA) in a match up of the top two wins leaders in the American League. Both pitchers have been great this season, putting both of them in contention for the AL Cy Young Award. Betting Lines for tonight's match up have the Red Sox listed as a slight favorite, listing them at -120 and the Yankees at Even. Check out Bodog Sportsbook for all of the lines on Sunday's games.

After combining for 46 runs and 62 hits over the first two games, Beckett and Sabathia will look to slow down two red hot offenses. The Red Sox' Brad Penny got shelled in his Friday start, giving up eight earned runs and ten hits in only four innings of work. Andy Pettitte benefited from plenty of run support, to pick up his tenth win of the year giving up five earned runs over five innings. On Saturday, A.J. Burnett struggled for the Yankees giving up nine earned runs to pick up the loss. Junichi Tazawa got the win for Boston, holding the Yankees scoreless over six innings. The Red Sox currently trail the Yankees by 6.5 games for the AL East lead, but hold a two game lead over the Texas Rangers in the Wild Card Standings. Even with last night's loss, the Yankees are still 15-5 for the month of August having seized control of the division.

Tonight's pitching matchup is a battle between two of the marquee pitchers in the American League. C.C. Sabathia is currently 4-0 for the month of August, holding his opponents to a paltry .185 batting average over that span. He is coming off of an eight inning performance against the Oakland Athletics, where he gave up only two runs to pick up the win. Sabathia is 3-5 with a 3.57 ERA in nine career starts against the Red Sox. Josh Beckett will be looking to rebound after one of the worst starts of his year, when he gave up seven earned runs against the Blue Jays. That was a very uncharacteristic performance by Beckett, who had allowed three runs or fewer in 15 of his previous 18 starts. He has an impressive 14-4 with a 2.17 ERA during that span. Coming into his start tonight, Beckett has thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings against the Yankees. The last time he faced New York, Beckett threw seven shutout innings in a Yankees win back on August 7th. Beckett is 2-0 in four starts against the Yankees this year, with a 4.13 ERA.

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