Before the game the Sox made news when they finally revealed the Players To Be Named Later they got in the Andrew Benintendi trade in February. The Sox picked up 19 year old Freddy Valdez from the New York Mets who's already 6'3 and 210 pounds. He could be a bruiser a few years from now. The Sox also got 23 year old pitcher Grant Gambrell and 18 year old pitcher Luis De La Rosa from the Kansas City Royals. Gambrell is 3-7 in his pro career and De La Rosa is a junkballer that doesn't throw above 91. Jordan LeAndre has been squawking for months that these guys were the centerpieces of the Benintendi trade, not Josh Winckowski or Franchy Cordero. If two Domincan teenagers and a guy who went 1-6 in the Rookie League in 2019 is the best Chaim Bloom could get for Andrew Benintendi, god help us. It'll be at least 3 years until either De La Rosa or Valdez are ready unless they pull a Xander Bogaerts and if Gambrell is posting a 4.37 ERA in A ball, what's he gonna do when he hits Portland or Worcester? If Bloom wanted quantity over quality, he sure as hell got it with five players. Hey Jordan, Andrew is hitting .295 with 6 homers, 28 rbis and 7 steals....."below average player" my ass.
As for the game, it took until June but the Boston Red Sox finally faced the New York Yankees in their first showdown of this season. The Red Sox opened the salvo by tagging Yankees starter Michael King for 3 runs in the top of the first inning courtesy of a 3 run Rafael Devers blast. Marwin Gonzalez added a two run double in support of Nathan Eovaldi (7-2, 3.78 ERA) who pitched well. Eovaldi tossed 6 innings and allowed 2 runs to put the Sox in a position to win. Hiro Sawamura and Matt Barnes slammed the door in the final three innings and the Red Sox had beaten the struggling Yankees 5-2 at Yankee Stadium.
The Sox wasted no time getting to King in the top of the first inning as Danny Santana led off with a pop up to third. Alex Verdugo got a base hit to center but JD Martinez lined out to short. Xander Bogaerts singled to right and Rafael Devers blasted his 15th homer of the season into the upper deck to put Boston on top. Hunter Renfroe struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Eovaldi got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and DJ LeMahieu singled to center to start. Giancarlo Stanton singled to left but Aaron Judge hit into a double play. Gio Urshela lined out to center to end the inning.
Marwin Gonzalez led off the top of the second with a line out to right to start. Christian Vazquez took strike three but Christian Arroyo got a base hit to center. Santana grounded out to second to end the inning. Gleyber Torres grounded out to first to open the bottom of the second and Rougned Odor struck out swinging. Clint Frazier went down hacking to end the inning.
Verdugo lined out to third to start the top of the third but Martinez doubled to left. Martinez moved to third on the Bogaerts fly out to center and Devers grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Eovaldi cruised in the bottom of the third as Gary Sanchez took strike three to start. Brett Gardner grounded out to first and LeMahieu struck out swinging to end the inning.
King turned up the heat in the top of the fourth as Renfroe struck out swinging to begin. Gonzalez and Vazquez both whiffed to end the inning. Stanton grounded out to third to open the bottom of the fourth but Judge lined a base hit to right. Urshela struck out swinging but Torres beat out a roller to third. Odor popped up to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Arroyo grounded out to third to start. Santana lined out to left and Verdugo grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Frazier flied out to right to begin the bottom of the fifth before Sanchez went down hacking. Gardner took strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck again the the top of the sixth although Martinez popped up to second to start. Bogaerts got a base hit to left to chase King and Lucas Luetge came in to face Devers. Rafael lined out to center but Renfroe singled to left. Gonzalez then ripped a double into the left field corner to clear the bases. Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
The Yankees rallied in the bottom of the sixth when LeMahieu singled to center to start. Stanton banged into a double play but Judge hit a home run all the way to Yonkers to cut the lead. Urshela and Torres singled to left and Gonzalez booted a routine grounder by Odor for an error to score Urshela. Frazier flied out to center to end the inning but the Yankees were back in it, down 5-2. Eovaldi was cruising until that last inning but left after 6 innings, allowing 2 runs.
Arroyo grounded out to short to start the top of the seventh inning and Santana struck out swinging. Verdugo lined out to first to end the inning. Hiro Sawamura came in for the bottom of the seventh and Sanchez went down swinging to start. Gardner took strike three and LeMahieu struck out swinging to end the inning.
Nestor Cortes came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Martinez popped up to second to start. Bogaerts and Devers both struck out swinging to end the inning. Sawamura walked Stanton to begin the bottom of the eighth but froze Judge for strike three. Urshela struck out swinging and Torres popped up to second to end the inning. Great work by Sawamura.
Renfroe popped up to first to start the top of the ninth but Gonzalez doubled to center. Vazquez and Arroyo both struck out swinging to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and he struck out Odor swinging on a knucklecurve to begin. Frazier took strike three and Sanchez went down hacking to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-2
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. His 3 run bomb was the difference in the game.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Marwin Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis.
Nathan Eovaldi got the win with 6 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed 8 hits while striking out 7.
Hiro Sawamura struck out 5 of the 7 batters he faced in 2 scoreless innings.
Matt Barnes earned his 13th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Danny Santana was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Christian Arroyo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
Holy moly the New York Yankees offense is BAD. The Red Sox and the whole league have been having offensive woes in Dead Ball Era 2.0 but the Sox don't hold a candle to the incompetence by the Yankees. Judge is the Yankees best hitter at .294 and NOBODY ELSE is hitting over .267. The second best hitter is Torres and after that the Yankees all fall off a cliff. If you keep the ball in the yard and don't throw up on yourself, the Yankees can be beaten. The only 2 runs the Yankees scored off Eovaldi were on a rare double error by Gonzalez and a home run by Judge. Pitching wise the Yankees are as good as anyone but the Sox tagged King and Luetge for 5 runs. Its unreal how much deadening the ball has affected the Yankees after setting home run records in 2019 but their woes have now extended into June. If this slump continues, the Sox must take advantage now and put some distance between the two teams. The Tampa Bay Rays are still the team to beat but they lost tonight as well. All in all if the Sox can win 2 out of 3 in New York, maybe some doubt will creep in about the Yankees' chances for October. If the season ended now the Yankees would actually be eliminated and it would be the Red Sox and Houston Astros in the play-in game. The Sox have to capitalize on the Yankees being vulnerable right now or they're going to be sorry if the Yankees offense wakes up. The win improved the Sox to 34-23, 1 game behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to make it three wins in a row when Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4, 5.64 ERA) looks to get back on track against Jameson Tailon of the Yankees. The game begins at 7:15 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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