Hey Dustin, sorry I'm responding to you months later!  First time I've been on the site in a while.  Hope it's not too late.  Yeah, I did the trip to Boston and NY actually exactly a year ago.  If I remember correctly, it took about 5 hours from my hotel just outside of Boston to my hotel in Manhattan.  This was in the late morning and afternoon, I'd say the drive was about 11 to 4, on a Wednesday.  Generally speaking, traffic is terrible around any of the major cities out east, and even between the major cities.  For example, it will tell you it's 2-3 hours from Philly to DC but in my experience it's 4.  

As far as hotels, yeah, it's absurd.  I can't remember the name of the town but I stayed in a Red Roof Inn just outside of Boston for about 100 a night.  Then I drove to a subway station, paid to park for the day, and took the train into Boston.  For NY, I wanted to get the full experience so I stayed in Manhattan, I found a "special" rate of about 200 a night for a decent hotel.  Your other options are basically limited to staying in a nearby town in New Jersey or out by La Guardia airport if you're trying to save money, neither of these is a great area (in terms of having things to do). but if you're only going to be there to sleep, no big deal.  I actually didn't end up going to Baltimore on that trip, I went in August 2016 instead for the Chasers trip.  

Hope this info is still useful to you!

Sorry to respond late.  The neighborhood isn't a place where most people would want to stay.  It might be fine if you are only coming for the game and then staying the night.  If you plan on doing other things in the city then stay in a hotel farther uptown.