After two months into the 2007 season and a double-digit lead in the American League East, the Boston Red Sox appear to be in great shape for a return to the playoffs and a division title. Being 20-plus games over .500 the Red Sox have plenty of room to work with, and it is likely that the margin will narrow as the schedule toughens over the next few weeks.

Although the Red Sox are a tough team to go against, June may be a month to catch some underdog value going against Boston. The New York/Boston rivalry dominates national baseball media coverage and following the three-game home set with the Yankees this weekend, Boston faces a very difficult June schedule.

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In the month of May, the Red Sox played just 12 road games which allowed them to pad the comfortable lead in the AL East. Of the 12 games just three were against a winning team, the Minnesota Twins, who sit just one game above .500. In the heart of June the Sox face 16 out of 22 games on the road, and every opponent currently has a winning record with the exception of Oakland who is just one game under .500.

After a nationally televised Sunday night game on June 3, Boston must travel across the country to play Monday in Oakland, kicking off a four-game series. Without a day off, Boston then plays at a hot Arizona Diamondbacks team as interleague play resumes. The Red Sox finally get a day off to head back to Boston where they host Colorado and San Francisco at Fenway Park.

Following what will be a much hyped series against the Giants, the Red Sox head to Atlanta for three games and then return West to play San Diego and Seattle to wrap up a nine-game road trip.

A long stretch of mostly road games, especially against quality opponents can take a major toll on a team. For example look what happened to Milwaukee as they stormed out to MLB’s best record before embarking on a brutal road stretch featuring 13 of 16 games away from home in late May. Milwaukee went 4-12 in that span and although the Brewers are still in first place, their lead has shrunk considerably.

The Red Sox have strong starting pitching and a good bullpen which should prevent a major slide, but expecting the Sox to continue at their current .700 winning clip over this stretch of games would be foolish. The Sox could go .500 or even slightly better but picking spots to go against the Red Sox in this span could be very profitable.

Boston has been favored in seven of its last 12 road games and against less popular teams like Oakland, Arizona, and Seattle the Sox will definitely be favored in several pitching match-ups.

If Boston wins the series against New York this weekend, especially if they do so convincingly, the gap between the Sox and Yankees in the standings will be enormous. It will be a huge story in sports media as it has been all season, and you can expect that the lines out West against good Oakland and Arizona teams will be inflated.

This looks like an opportunity to play against Boston and catch some profits with good teams as underdogs as the schedule should catch up to Boston in June. Whether or not one of the other AL East teams can step up and advance in the standings remains to be seen.