Before the game the Boston Red Sox made some roster moves. Brian Johnson was placed on the Injured List with an undisclosed ailment and Hector "The Insurance Policy" was activated from the Injured List to take Brian's place. Sam Travis was also called up to be the 26th man for the next two games against the New York Yankees.
Well this game was bad news for the Boston Red Sox but great news for worldwide baseball relations, that's for sure. In the first professional American baseball game held in London, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees combined to score 30 runs on 27 hits and 6 home runs. Unfortunately for the Sox the Yankees scored 17 and Boston only scored 13. "Slick" Rick Porcello didn't make it out of the first inning as the Yankees scored 6 runs. Then the Sox countered by knocking out Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka in the bottom of the first with 6 runs of their own. The Yankees pitching then didn't suck as hard as the Sox for the next 8 innings as the Yankees took the first game of this London series 17-13 at Yankee Stadium.
The massacre began in the top of the first inning when DJ LeMahieu singled to right to start. Aaron Judge flied out to the centerfield wall but Gary Sanchez walked. Luke Voit doubled home LeMahieu and Didi Gregorius doubled both runners home. Edwin Encarnacion doubled home Gregorius and Aaron Hicks smashed a home run all the way to Stonehenge to knock Porcello out. Colten Brewer came in and Gleyber Torres walked before moving to second on the grounder by Brett Gardner. LeMahieu took strike three but it was 6-0 Yankees.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the first as Mr. Mookie Betts greeted Tanaka with a base hit to left to start. Rafael Devers doubled home Betts to put the Sox on the board. Xander Bogaerts and JD Martinez walked to load the bases, but Andrew Benintendi popped up to short. Christian Vazquez hit a sac fly to score Devers and Brock "The Hitman" Holt got a base hit to right to score Bogaerts to cut the lead in half. Michael Chavis then made the Boston fan portion of Wembley roar as he smashed a 3 run bomb to tie the game. Chad Green came in to pitch and Jackie Bradley Jr got a base hit to right. Mr. Mookie grounded into a force to end the inning but the Sox had tied it 6-6, how about that?
Steven Wright came in for the top of the second and Judge singled to left to start. Sanchez whiffed but Voit singled to left. Gregorius banged into a double play to end the inning. Devers doubled to right to begin the bottom of the second and Bogaerts lined out to center. Martinez singled Bogaerts to third but Benintendi whiffed. Vazquez grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Yankees took command for good in the top of the third as Encarnacion took strike three to start. Hicks lined out to center but Torres singled to left. Gardner then smashed as home run all the way to Piccadilly to put the Yankees on top. LeMahieu singled to right and Judge walked, but Sanchez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 8-6.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third as Holt lined out to left to start. Chavis flied out to right but JBJ singled to left. David Hale came in to pitch to Betts and Mr. Mookie took strike three to end the inning.
The Yankees iced the game in the top of the fourth against Mike Shawaryn as Voit doubled to center to start. Gregorius walked but Encarnacion whiffed and Hicks flied out to left. The floodgates opened as Torres singled to left to load the bases and Gardner walked home Voit. LeMahieu cleared the bases with a double to put the game out of reach. Judge put the exclamation point on the rally with a home run all the way to Cockfosters to increase the lead. Sanchez whiffed to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 14-6.
The Sox failed to answer in the bottom of the fourth as Devers flied out to center to start. Bogaerts singled to right but Martinez lined iout to short. Nestor Cortes Jr replaced Hale and Benintendi popped up to third to end the inning.
The Yankeed poured it on in the top of the fifth as Voit doubled to left to start. Gio Urshela ran for Voit and moved to third on a wild pitch. Gregorius singled home Urshela but Encarnacion whiffed. Finally Sox manager Alex Cora pulled Shawaryn and Josh Taylor gave up a single to Hicks before a wild pitch moved both runners over. Torres walked but Gardner took strike three. LeMahieu singled home Gregorius and Hicks to wrap up the scoring. Judge flied out to right to end the inning but it was 17-6 Yankees.
LeMahieu does it again
The Red Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the fifth as Vazquez grounded out in front of the plate to start. Holt and Chavis both grounded out to short to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in for the top of the sixth and Sanchez flied out to center to start. Urshela lined back to Brasier and Gregorius flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when JBJ clobbered his 9th home run of the season to start. Mr. Mookie took strike three, Devers grounded out to third and Bogaerts took strike three to end the inning with the Sox down a touchdown and a field goal 17-7.
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez took over on the mound, Sandy Leon took Holt's spot in the lineup but behind the plate, Vazquez moved to third, Sam Travis came in for Benintendi and Marco Hernandez replaced Devers in the lineup at second base to begin the top of the seventh. Encarnacion whiffed, Hicks took strike three and Torres grounded out to first to end the inning. Mike Tauchman came in for Judge and Austin Romine came in to catch the bottom of the seventh as the Sox rallied. Martinez took strike three and Travis lined out to right, but Vazquez singled to left. Leon singled to short and Chavis smashed his second 3 run bomb of the game to put the Sox behind by a touchdown. JBJ singled to right and the Yankees were forced to bring in Tommy Kahnle. Mr. Mookie walked and both runners moved over on a wild pitch. Hernandez singled home JBJ and Kahnle airmailed ball four to Bogaerts, scoring Betts on a mad dash. Adam Ottavino came in and Martinez doubled home Hernandez. Travis popped up to first to end the inning but the Sox somehow cut the lead 17-13.
Eduardo Nunez came in for Bogaerts to start the top of the eighth as Gardner flied out to center to start. LeMahieu lined out to Velazquez and Tauchman whiffed to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the eighth as Vazquez flied out to right to start. Leon singled and Chavis walked, but JBJ beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners. Mr. Mookie walked to load the bases...but Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Marcus Walden came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Romine grounded out to second to start. Urshela doubled to left but Gregorius grounded out to second. Encarnacion whiffed to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came on to close out the bottom of the ninth as Nunez grounded out to third to start. Martinez singled to left but Travis banged into a double play to end the game. The Yankees had won the slugfest 17-13.
Jackass of the Night is Mike Shawaryn. The Sox were still relatively in the game when he came in and was charged with 8 runs in 1 1/3 innings.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Marco Hernandez was 1 for 2 with an rbi and run scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 was 2 walks and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 3 for 5 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Brock Holt was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Sandy Leon was 2 for 2 with a run scored.
Michael Chavis was 2 for 4 with 6 total rbis, a walk and 2 home runs.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 4 for 5 with a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Colten Brewer got the final 2 outs of the first inning.
Ryan Brasier tossed a scoreless inning.
Hector Velazquez tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Marcus Walden tossed a scoreless inning.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Sam Travis was 0 for 3.
Rick Porcello allowed 6 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
Steven Wright allowed 2 runs in 2 innings to take the loss.
Josh Taylor allowed inherited runners to score and one of his own in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but walked twice and scored two runs.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Final Thoughts:
What a slugfest, too bad the Sox didn't win. There's not much you can do when the Yankees can't miss. Still, the baseballs must have been tampered with to give the London crowd a show because there were absolute rockets hit by people who normally don't hit rockets. DJ LeMahieu was a one man wrecking crew but Michael Chavis tried to match him. If this game didn't prove that the Sox need bullpen help, I don't know what will. The Sox have one month left before the trade deadline, time for Sox GM Dave Dombrowski to make a move before they fall too far behind. As for this game, great offense, lousy pitching. The loss dropped the Sox to 44-39, 9 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox try to rebound against the Yankees in their last game in London together. Eduardo Rodriguez goes for the Sox up against Stephen Tarpley of the Yankees at 3:05 PM Eastern time, 8:05 PM London time at Wembley Stadium.
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