Price took the mound in the top of the first inning and had to wait as Andrew Benintendi and Sonny Gray engaged in a comical staredown as neither man refused to leave the field after the National Anthem. When play resumed Brett Gardner beat out an infield single to get the rally started. Aaron Judge drew a walk and Giancarlo Stanton smashed a triple to the triangle to clear the bases. Didi Gregorius popped up to short but Gary Sanchez smashed a 590 foot bomb to put the Yankees up for good. Neil Walker grounded out to short and Tyler Austin walked. Tyler Wade struck out to end the nightmare inning for Price as the Yankees pounced for a 4-0 lead. All of a sudden Price had to be carried out on a stretcher onto an ambulance and that was it for him after just 1 inning.
The Sox refused to go quietly in the bottom of the first against Tanaka. Mookie Betts hit a rinky dink pop up to short to start before Rafael Devers popped up to left. Hanley Ramirez then hit a line drive bomb off the National Car Rental banner to put the Sox on the board. JD Martinez stroked a seeing eye single into left and Mitch Moreland drew a walk, but Eduardo Nunez whiffed badly on a pitch in the dirt to end the inning with the Sox down 4-1.
With Price hauled off in an ambulance, Bobby Poyner got the call to pitch the top of the second inning and took a beating. Miguel Andujar grounded back to the mound but Gardner walked and Judge hit a hanging curve into left for a single. Poyner got Stanton to whiff on a high fastball and Gregorius to ground out to short to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to center, Christian Vazquez whiffed and Brock Holt popped up to center to end the inning.
The Yankees struck again in the top of the third but with some controversy. Sanchez doubled down the left field line and Walker singled him to third. Austin also singled to left to score Sanchez but then wiped out Holt at second breaking up a double play ball hit by Wade. They got in each others faces and the benches emptied but no punches were thrown. When play resumed, Moreland snared a line drive by Andujar and doubled Wade off at first to end the inning with the Yankees up 5-1.
Meanwhile Tanaka wiped out the Sox in the bottom of the third on just 5 pitches as Betts grounded out to short, Devers grounded out to first and Ramirez lined out to third in short order.
The Yankees pounded Heath Hembree in the top of the fourth inning as Gardner beat out an infield single to start. Judge singled to left and Gardner moved to third on a 400 foot out by Stanton. Gregorius scored Gardner and Sanchez smashed a 8,000 foot home run to give the Yankees a seven run lead. Walker struck out to end the inning with the Yankees up 8-1.
As usual the Sox went very quickly in the bottom of the fourth inning. Martinez whiffed, Moreland grounded out to short and Nunez flied out to center to end the inning.
The Yankees were finally retired in the top of the fifth inning as Austin whiffed, Wade flied out to center and Andujar grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox somehow bopped their way back into the game in the bottom of the fifth as JBJ got a single to left to start. Vazquez naturally flied out to right but Holt somehow singled to left. Betts doubled down the left field line to score JBJ but Devers popped up to left. Ramirez walked to load the bases and Martinez clobbered a grand slam to dead center to wake the crowd up and put the Sox back in the game. Moreland hit a ground rule double into the right field stands to somehow bring the tying run to the plate. Nunez grounded out to first to end the inning but the Sox were only down two runs after scoring five, 8-6.
The Sox finally crapped themselves defensively in the top of the sixth inning with Matt Barnes now on the mound. As usual Gardner walked and stole second, Vazquez throwing the ball to outer space which allowed Gardner to go to third. Somehow Barnes struck out Judge but Stanton singled home Brett. Two consecutive wild pitches by Barnes moved Stanton to third and he scored on the Gregorius sac fly. Sanchez grounded out to third to end the inning but it was all over, 10-6 Yankees.
The Sox tried to fight back when JBJ singled to start the bottom of the sixth against Chad Green but was erased on the force by Vazquez. Holt banged into a double play to end the inning.
The tension that was boiling finally erupted in the top of the seventh with Joe Kelly now on the mound. Walker grounded out to third before Kelly wasted no time in hitting Austin in the back. Austin smashed his bat and charged the mound. Kelly dodged the tackle attempt and started throwing punches. The benches emptied and when it was all said and done, Austin and Kelly were ejected along with Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin and Tommy Kahnle the relief pitcher. Absolute bedlam.
Shane Robinson pinch ran for Austin and Brian Johnson took over on the mound. Johnson struck out Wade and Andujar popped up to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Betts grounded out to short, Devers struck out swinging and Ramirez lined out to right to end the inning.
Johnson returned for the top of the eighth and froze Gardner for strike three. Judge whiffed but Stanton singled to left. Gregorius flied out to center to end the inning. David Robertson took over for the bottom of the eighth with Ronald Torreyes now at third. Martinez watched strike three go by, Moreland flied out to center and Nunez whiffed to end the inning.
Carson Smith took over on the mound in the top of the ninth inning and got Sanchez to ground out to first to start. Walker grounded out to short but Robinson walked. Wade watched strike three go by to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came on to finish off the Sox in the bottom of the ninth but they refused to go quietly. JBJ singled and Vazquez doubled him to third. Suddenly the Sox looked like they would be in business if they could string together a few hits. It didn't happen as Sandy Leon pinch hit for Holt and popped up to right. The biggest out of the night came when Betts whiffed. It didn't matter that Chapman uncorked a wild pitch that scored JBJ because there were two outs. Devers whiffed to end the game. The Yankees had outslugged the Sox 10-7.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one because so many guys gave up runs but I'll have to go with Matt Barnes. He gave up the final two runs to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't dig out of.
The Good:
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a walk,home run and 2 total runs scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a grand slam.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Brock Holt was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
David Price gave up 4 runs in just 1 inning claiming his hand went numb. Yes, he left the game because he was COLD. Good grief.
Heath Hembree gave up 3 runs in 2 innings of work.
Joe Kelly pitched 1/3 of an inning before getting tossed.
Brian Johnson tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Carson Smith pitched a scoreless 9th.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run and scored.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with the first error of the season by a Boston fielder.
Bobby Poyner gave up a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
The rivalry has returned. For the past 10 years its been edormant because one team sucked or because there wasn't any bad blood. Now its back to 2003-05 where both teams are favorites in the American League so they're going to be circling dates on the calendar. Also this is unrelated to baseball but when the New England Patriots got croaked by the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 of the 2014 season, head coach Bill Belichick admitted that he felt good after the game about his team even though they got smashed because they showed life in the second half. If you're a Red Sox fan, you have to feel good about the Sox. They demolished Tanaka and once again scored a run off Chapman. If Price didn't get hurt and the bullpen doesn't get forced to throw 8 innings maybe it turns out interesting. You also gotta love Kelly protecting Holt by drilling Austin. Unlike last year when Barnes threw at Manny Machado and Dustin Pedroia begged off like a pro wrestling heel, Holt charged the field with everyone else. Beanballs, home runs, bad feelings.....the rivalry has returned. Tomorrow night's game will have the feeling of a big grudge match and its been a long time coming. From 2003-05 every single game was viewed by the fans as Game 7 of the World Series. By 2005 every PITCH was a victory. I remember clearly in 2005 Matt Clement had a 3-1 count on someone and a Yankee fan in an AOL chatroom was going "lmaooooo 3-1, he can't throw strikes, lmaoooo 3-1). So for you youngsters that missed that back then, its back. Tomorrow nights game now has a meaning to it and Rick Porcello (2-0, 2.84 ERA) takes on Sonny Gray with bragging rights to the first series of the year on the line at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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