It was a good say for Boston sports as the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their first round NHL playoff series and the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees. The Red Sox sent a message they are not afraid of the Yankees. Last year the Sox scored 32 runs in the first 12 games against the Yankees which included a few extra inning games. With tonight's 6-3 victory of the Yankees, the Sox scored 27 runs in the first 3 games of this season's series, taking 2 of them. Tonight the Sox pounded Yankees starter Sonny Gray and knocked him out after 3 innings. Rick Porcello (3-0, 1.83 ERA) flirted with a no-no before settling on 7 shut-out innings as the Sox survived a late scare to win 6-3 at Fenway Park.
Porcello got the ball to start the top of the first inning and Brett Gardner grounded out to first to start. Aaron Judge grounded out to third and Giancarlo Stanton grounded to the mound to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the first against Gray as Mookie Betts popped up to second to start. Andrew Benintendi singled but Gray nailed Hanley Ramirez on the wrist with a pitch. It was unintentional but Ramirez had to be hauled off on a gurney. Mitch Moreland took his spot at first as JD Martinez flied out to right. Rafael Devers flied out to left to end the inning but Ramirez was gone.
Porcello took his frustrations out on the Yankees in the top of the second inning. Didi Gregorius flied out to center, Gary Sanchez whiffed and Aaron Hicks flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox broke through in the bottom of the second inning as Eduardo Nunez made a mad dash to first on a infield hit but pulled up lame, he stayed in the game with a single though. Jackie Bradley Jr walked and Nunez moved to third on a wild pitch. Sandy Leon singled to score Nunez and Brock Holt walked to load the bases. Betts hit a 400 foot out to center and all three runners tagged up, scoring JBJ. Benintendi hit a perfect double play ball to Tyler Wade but he inexplicably tried to nail Leon at home, missing badly and scoring Sandy. Moreland singled to score Holt and Martinez whiffed but the ball got away from Sanchez, advancing everyone. Devers grounded out to short to end the inning but it was 4-0.
Porcello made quick work of the Yankees in the top of the third inning as Neil Walker flied out to left, Wade whiffed and Ronald Torreyes grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third. Nunez doubled to center and JBJ hit a routine fly ball to left....that Stanton never saw and he ran into the left field wall as the ball landed 20 feet behind him for a ground rule double to score Nunez. The incompetent Yankee defense struck again when Leon whiffed, but Sanchez muffed the ball and Leon scampered to put runners at the corners. Holt watched strike three go by but Betts hit a sac fly to score JBJ to increase the lead. Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 6-0 Sox. Thanks Stanton!
Porcello came out for the top of the fourth inning and got Gardner to fly out to left to start. Judge grounded out to second but Stanton was hit with a pitch (unintentionally) to break up the perfect game. Gregorius flied out to left to end the inning. The rain came pouring down in the bottom of the fourth as that was it for Sonny Gray after 3 innings and 6 runs allowed. Domingo German replaced Gray and Martinez flied out to right to start. Devers hit one up the elevator shaft and Nunez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Porcello made it an official game in the top of the fifth as he got Sanchez to ground out to short to start. Hicks flied out to center and Walker grounded out to first to end the inning. JBJ whiffed to start the bottom of the fifth before Leon grounded out to third. Holt grounded out to first to end the inning before the game was finally delayed due to the rain delay. While the Sox were delayed, the hearty souls were treated to watch the nearby Boston Bruins wipe out the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the NHL playoffs 5-1 on the Jumbotron.
When play resumed in the top of the sixth, Tzu-Wei Lin took over at short for Nunez with Holt moving to second. Apparently during the rain delay Nunez was loaded on to an ambulance via a stretcher and taken to Mt. Auburn. Porcello kept the no-hitter intact by getting Wade to ground out to first to start. Torreyes looked at strike three before Gardner whiffed to end the inning. The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Betts popped up to first although Benintendi singled to right. Moreland looked at strike three and Martinez whiffed to end the inning.
The no-hitter was gone quickly in the top of the seventh when Judge led off with a double. Stanton hit a ground ball to third that couldn't advance Aaron but he beat it out for a single. Porcello recovered to get Gregorius to fly out to right then freezing Sanchez for strike three. Porcello ended his night by striking out Hicks to end the inning. Porcello had tossed 7 innings of 2 hit ball while striking out 6, outstanding.
Tommy Kahnle took over for the bottom of the seventh and Devers whiffed to start. Lin walked but JBJ whiffed. Leon lined out to center to end the inning.
Marcus Walden rejoined the Sox for tonight's game and he got brought in to pitch the top of the eighth. Walker grounded out to first and Wade was rung up for strike three, but Torreyes doubled to center. Gardner whiffed to end the inning. Adam Warren came on to pitch the bottom of the eighth and the Sox did nothing. Holt grounded out to first, Betts whiffed and Benintendi grounded out to first to end the inning.
Suddenly the Yankees sprung to life in the top of the ninth inning down 6 runs with 3 outs to go. Judge walked and Stanton hit a routine grounder to Devers but Rafael decided to field it with his hat instead of his glove. When the ball rolled away Devers ran after it, picked it up, yelled at it and threw it in the stands in disgust. Judge went to third on the double error and Stanton stole second moments later. Gregorius walked to load the bases with nobody out and Sox fans groaned when Sanchez doubled in all 3 runs to somehow bring the tying run to the on-deck circle. That was it for the incompetent Walden as Sox manager Alex Cora had no choice but to bring in Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel to close out the game. Hicks grounded out to first and Kimbrel blew away Walker. Kimbrel blew away Wade to end the game with the Sox holding on to win 6-3.
Hero of the Night is Rick Porcello. He held the Yankees offense scoreless with 2 measly hits through 7 innings.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Hanley Ramirez was hit with a pitch before leaving the game.
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 3 with an rbi.
Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored before leaving.
Tzu-Wei Lin walked in his only plate appearance.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 4th save of the year with a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in 2 runs.
Sandy Leon was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Brock Holt was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Nothing like beating the Yankees two out of three to shut their annoying fans up. All winter long they gloated about getting to Game 7 last year, dominating the Red Sox, getting Stanton, how Sabathia and Tanaka "owns" the Sox and how they "own" Sale. All that talk went right out the window as the Sox have scored almost as many runs in this 3 game set than they did most of last year. Don't believe me? Look at this:
April 26 - 1 run
April 27 - 0 runs
June 6 - 4 runs
June 7 - 0 runs
June 8 - 1 run
July 14 - 5 runs
July 15 - 1 run
July 16 game 1 - 0 runs
July 16 game 2 - 3 runs
August 11 - 4 runs
August 12 - 10 runs
August 13 - 3 runs
That was 32 runs in 12 games including a bevy of extra innings. The Sox in this 3 game set scored 27, almost tying their ENTIRE offensive output for 12 games last year. Granted its only April and it was only 3 games but its satisfying to shut the Yankee fans up even if it was temporary. Both Porcello and Sale looked great and the offense produced. Kimbrel took over a messy situation and slammed the door nicely. The good news on Ramirez was xrays were negative so hopefully its just a bruise on his wrist. The Sox can't afford to lose Nunez since he's the depth backup for Dustin Pedroia who won't be back until May. Still, a 10-2 record is nothing to sneeze at and all the ones squawking about their "easy schedule" can go live in a tree. Tomorrow night the Baltimore Orioles are in town with struggling ace Chris Tillman on the mound against Eduardo Rodriguez (0-0, 7.36 ERA). Hopefully Eduardo is a lot less rusty than last week during the game that starts at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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