Red Sox Yankees Review

Break 'em out! 

The Red Sox welcomed the old rivals from New York to Fenway for the first time in 2016, and they swept them aside over a delicious weekend series. 

Game 1: Red Sox 4, Yankees 2 Friday night saw Henry Owens go up against Masahiro Tanaka, a poor matchup for the Sox on paper. Owens held his own, allowing just 2 runs over 6 innings. That performance was critical, as Tanaka absolutely blanked the home team over the first 6 frames. However, Joe Girardi tried to stretch him through the 7th, despite the Yankees having one of the best bullpens in the game, and Boston took advantage. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a clutch 2-out, 2 run double off the Monster to tie the game, ending Tanaka's night. David Ortiz, as he so often does, played the hero the next inning with his two run bomb off of Dellin Betances, and Kimbrel shut the door in the 9th. While Ortiz got the headlines for his game-winner (and rightly so), the hit I want to talk about was Jackie Bradley's.

       This 7th inning double was not only timely, but a great example of the progress JBJ has made as a hitter. Tanaka actually made a good pitch, a splitter that was down and diving away from the left-handed Bradley. Its the kind of pitch that lefties hate, and usually produces a swing-and-miss or weak grounder. However, Bradley got extended, showed off his plate coverage, and drove it off the wall to the opposite field. Its the kind of swing you only see when a guy is absolutely locked in, and Bradley has been red hot lately. In the last two weeks, he has raised his average over 50 points to .274, and if he continues to hit like this, the American League needs to watch out. 

Game 2 Red Sox 8, Yankees 0 This game looks like a blowout based on the score, but it was actually a tight game for the first 6 innings. Joel Pineda battled through 5 IP, giving up 2 runs. The Sox were able to break the game open against the middle relievers as soon as he left, with David Ortiz hitting his 2nd HR of the series (5th of the season). JBJ also continued to stroke it, with 2 triples, a double and 3 RBI. The real story of this game though was the pitching of one Rick Porcello.

Porcello has gotten a lot of bad press since coming to Boston, largely because he pitched horribly for much of last season. However, since he returned from a stint on the disabled list on August 26th, he has been a totally different pitcher. In 13 starts, he has not gone fewer than 6 IP, which is the longest active streak in MLB. While he hasn't been dominant over this stretch, his ERA is 3.00, nothing to shake a stick at. Basically, he has been a solid, dependable starter since he got healthy, which is pretty much exactly what the front office thought they were getting when they traded for him. Porcello is now a legitimate 5-0 with a 2.76 ERA in 2016, making him undoubtedly the best pitcher on the team this season. 

Game 3 Red Sox 8, Yankees 7 With a pitching matchup featuring a guy like David Price on one side, and Nathan Eovaldi coming off 7 shutout innings on the other, you would expect a pitchers' duel. However, baseball is the most unpredictable of games, and the finale of the series turned out as a wild, back-and-forth affair. Neither pitcher had it going on Sunday, as both gave up 6 ER while recording only 3 strikeouts apiece. Instead, it was the offenses who took center stage, with 23 hits combined. All that hitting produced 5 lead changes, capped off by Christian Vasquez's 2-out, 2-run dinger in the 7th. That bomb was given up by Dellin Betances, who needs a hug after giving up 2 game winners in 3 games. Its always awesome to get clutch hitting, but its even better when the bottom of the order wins the game against one of the opposition's best. Great win for the Sox, great series. However, there are concerns.

David Price is not pitching well. At all. In 4 starts at home this year, Price has now given up 21 runs in 22 2/3 IP. Thats truly awful, and its validating some of the naysayers who balked at the Price signing over the summer because they didn't think he would be able to succeed in Fenway. However, I think Price will be fine. Coming into this season, Price had a 1.95 ERA in 74 IP over 11 starts, so its not like the shadow of the Monster is messing with his head. Im going to view these early season struggles as a blip, one that will be corrected. Price has earned the benefit of the doubt. However, its definitely something to watch going forward. 

Overall, things are rosy in Beantown. The Sox are now 15-10, in sole possession of first place in the AL East. Even better, they are now 15-5 in games not involving Clay Buccholz, with the returns of Eduardo Rodriguez and Carson Smith still on the horizon. Next up is a 6 game road trip, Ill be posting a preview of the upcoming series soon.