The AL East worst Boston Red Sox will host the division-leading New York Yankees for a four-game set at Fenway Park starting Friday night. The Red Sox are off four consecutive wins and I like the price we get on the hosts to keep rolling behind a red hot pitcher.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Yankees hand the ball to Michael Pineda (8-5, 3.79 ERA) who may be off seven innings of five-hit ball against the Rays, but he had struggled in each of his last two starts prior surrendering a total of 11 runs (10 earned) on 18 hits over 11 1/3 innings. This will be his first meeting with the Red Sox for the season but he has a 5.40 ERA in four career starts against them. The Red Sox will counter with Clay Buchholz (7-6, 3.27) who's off four straight wins over which he's allowed only a total of three earned runs in 31 innings for an 0.87 ERA. This should be as good of a spot as any to better his rather poor numbers against the Yankees.

2. Situational - The Yankees have lost four of their last five coming into the game as a road underdog and they've also lost four of their last five series-openers. The Red Sox meanwhile are 4-0 in their last four games as a favorite and they've also won four straight when facing a right-hander starter.

3. X-Factor - Xander Bogaerts is 2-for-4 against Pineda lifetime, but more importantly is that he's coming into this game red hot going 13-for-30 with eight RBIs over a seven-game hitting streak.

Selection: This is a play on the Boston Red Sox (10*)