New York Yankee fans have been laughing at Boston Red Sox fans for finishing in last place the past two seasons, the tables have turned as the Sox thrashed the Yankees 8-0 and sent them into last place. On top of that, the Yankees have officially the worst offense in major league baseball, trailing the hapless Atlanta Braves.
"Slick" Rick Porcello (5-0, 2.76 ERA) got the ball to start the top of the first. Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to short, Brett Gardner grounded out to first and Carlos Beltran flied out in short order. Michael Pineda took the hill in the bottom of the first. Mr. Mookie Betts flied out and Dustin Pedroia popped up. Xander Bogaerts walked and David Ortiz singled him to third, but Hanley Ramirez was rung up on a questionable pitch to end the inning.
Porcello ran into a bit of a jam in the top of the second. Mark Teixeira struck out and Alex Rodriguez grounded out but Brian McCann singled. Starling Castro singled but Didi Gregorious forced Castro at second to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second. Travis Shaw and Brock Holt both flied out to left. Christian Vazquez singled and Jackie Bradley Jr doubled him to third. Mr. Mookie bloop doubled home both runners to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Pedroia grounded out to end the inning.
Could Porcello protect the lead in the top of the third? YES! Chase Headley looked at strike 3, Ellsbury flied out and Gardner grounded out to end the inning. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the third. Bogaerts grounded out to third but Ortiz walked. Ramirez struck out but Shaw singled Ortiz to third. Holt grounded out to end the inning.
Porcello looked unhittable in the top of the fourth. Beltran and Teixeira both whiffed and A-Rod grounded out to end the inning. Vazquez led off the bottom of the fourth with a ground out. JBJ worked a walk and advanced to second on the Mr. Mookie force. Pedroia grounded out to end the inning.
Porcello ran into trouble in the top of the fifth. McCann singled but Castro banged into a double play. Gregorious walked and Headley singled but Ellsbury grounded out to end the threat. Pineda finally had an easy 5th inning although it would be his last. Bogaerts struck out, Ortiz grounded out and Ramirez flied out. Pineda was done after 5 innings and 106 pitches, shades of the 2013 Sox to knock pitchers out early.
Gardner lined out to the alert JBJ to open the top of the sixth but Beltran singled. Teixeira and A-Rod both flew out to left to end the inning. This was shaping up to be a mirror image of last night, but luckily the Sox put the game out of reach in the bottom of the 6th against Chasen Shreve. Shaw struck out but Holt worked a walk. Vazquez struck out but JBJ stroked a triple into the game, scoring Holt and giving the Sox a 3-0 lead. Kirby Yates replaced Shreve and Mr. Mookie scored JBJ with an infield single that should have been ruled an error on Castro. Mr. Mookie swiped second and Pedroia walked, but Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning. It was 4-0 Red Sox.
All Porcello needed was 3 more outs and the game was in the bag. McCann whiffed to open the top of the seventh, Castro lined out and Gregorious struck out to end the inning. Porcello had tossed 7 shut-out innings, guess he has finally earned the Number 2 Starter role he was supposed to last season. Better late than never. Johnny Barbato took over for the bottom of the seventh and David Ortiz greeted him with career home run number 508 to give the Sox a 5-0 lead. Ortiz needs just 12 more to tie Ted Williams.
Ramirez walked and Shaw singled him to third. Holt legged out an infield single to score Ramirez but Vazquez struck out. That was it for Barbato as Nick Goody replaced him. JBJ became the first Sox player since 1967 to hit two triples in one game as he tripled home Shaw and Holt. Mr. Mookie and Pedroia both struck out but the Sox now led 8-0. Game, set, match.
Robbie Ross Jr took the hill for the top of the eighth. Marco Hernandez gave Pedroia the rest of the night off at second. He immediately booted a ground ball hit by Headley. Ellsbury struck out and Headley was erased at second on the force by Gardner. Aaron Hicks pinch hit for Beltran and grounded out to end the inning. Dustin Ackley replaced McCann in the batting order but was playing first base, Hicks remained in right and Austin Romine replaced Teixeira in the batting order but was catching. Bogaerts led off with a single as Chris Young pinch hit for Ortiz....and popped up. Ramirez singled and Josh Rutledge pinch ran for him. Shaw struck out as Holt singled to load the bases. Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa came on to pitch the ninth mostly due to his lack of use recently. Rutledge was at third base as Shaw moved to first. Taz punched out Romine as Ronald Torreyes pinch hit for A-Rod....and grounded out. Ackley grounded out to end the game. The Sox had won 8-0.
Hero of the Night is a tough one but I have to go with Rick Porcello. He shut out the Yankees through seven innings. He allowed just 5 hits and a walk while striking out 6. He improved to 5-0 with a 2.76 ERA.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with 3 rbi's. David Ortiz was 2 for 3 with a walk and swatted his 508th career home run. Travis Shaw was 2 for 5 with a run scored. Jackie Bradley Jr was 3 for 3 with a walk, 3 rbi's and 2 runs scored. Bradley is actually hitting (.272) better than Betts (.266) and Holt (.250). Robbie Ross Jr pitched a scoreless eighth. Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Chris Young was 0 for 1 after pinch hitting for Ortiz. Marco Hernandez was brought in to play defense and he booted the first ground ball his way in the top of the eighth.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 but worked a walk. Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a walk. Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. Brock Holt was just 1 for 4 but walked, drove in a run and scored twice. Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Josh Rutledge pinch ran for Hanley Ramirez and played 3rd base to end the game.
Final Thoughts:
Any time the Yankees are knocked around its a good thing but this was special. The Yankees are in last place and the Sox can help keep them there by sweeping this series. They already took the first two games and David Price (3-0) is waiting in the finale. JBJ has hit a hot streak and it came at a good time with Brock Holt slumping. The key to Porcello's success was he's been throwing his sinker nearly 56% of the time whereas last year he only threw it 25% of the time. When the sinker is working, he can be as dominant as Derek Lowe was in 2002, 2003 and the 2004 post-season. More good news on the horizon is Carson Smith is ready to come back. He pitched a scoreless inning in Portland tonight. The Sox can either activate him tomorrow night against New York or wait till Tuesday to activate him against the Chicago White Sox. The only question is who is the odd man out? Tommy Layne is rarely used so that would be my guess. The Sox concluded the month of April with a 14-10 record, very good considering the poor pitching they had the first couple weeks of the season. In fact, the Sox are 0-5 in Clay Buchholz starts. What does that tell you? Tomorrow night the Sox go for the sweep as Price takes on Nathan Eovaldi at 8:05 PM.
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