After a premature rainout postponed Opening Day to today, the New York Yankees rallied past the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day in almost the exact same way the Houston Astros beat the Sox in Game 4 of last year's ALCS. Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi was pulled after 76 pitches and 5 innings and naturally the Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning against Garrett Whitlock. The Sox did manage to take the lead in the tenth on an rbi single by Xander Bogaerts but Gleyber Torres hit a sac fly against Ryan Brasier in the bottom of the tenth to tie it. Josh Donaldson drove in Isiah Kiner in the bottom of the eleventh and the Yankees walked off the Sox 6-5 on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.
Cole got the ball in the top of the first inning and the Sox wasted no time getting to him. Kike Hernandez began the season with a four pitch walk and Rafael Devers then smashed a two run bomb into the upper deck to put the Sox on top. Xander Bogaerts smashed a ball so hard off the left field wall that he had to stay at first with a single and JD Martinez smashed a double down the right field line to score Bogaerts. Alex Verdugo grounded back to the mound and Trevor Story made his Red Sox debut by popping up to third. Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
The Yankees got to Eovaldi in the bottom of the first although Josh Donaldson grounded out to second on the first pitch to start. Aaron Judge blooped a base hit to right and Anthony Rizzo effortlessly crushed a home run to outer space to cut the lead. Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging on a curveball but DJ LeMahieu grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Yankees back in it 3-2.
Jackie Bradley Jr made his return to the Sox by flying out to right to start the top of the second. Christian Vazquez was hit with a pitch but Hernandez banged into a double play to end the inning. Joey Gallo took strike three to start the bottom of the second before Aaron Hicks swung and missed for strike three. Kyle Higashioka effortlessly singled to center but Isiah Kiner grounded out to third to end the inning.
Cole cruised in the top of the third as Devers grounded out to short to start. Bogaerts watched strike three go by and Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning. Eovaldi cruised in the bottom of the third as Donaldson grounded out to second to start. Judge grounded out to third and Rizzo flied out to center to end the inning.
Verdugo ripped a base hit off the right field wall to start the top of the fourth but Story flied out to right. Dalbec took strike three and JBJ popped up to Judge to end the inning. Naturally the Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the fourth as Stanton hit a home run to the Klingon Homeworld to start. LeMahieu walked on 5 pitches not even close but somehow Gallo struck out swinging. Hicks went down hacking and Higashioka hit a routine grounder to short. Bogaerts picked the ball up and disco danced with it for an error but Kiner grounded into a force to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the fifth with Chad Green taking over for Cole to start the top of the fifth. Vazquez singled to left but Hernandez banged into a double play. Devers flied out to left to end the inning. Eovaldi got in trouble in the bottom of the fifth as Donaldson singled to center to start. Judge went down swinging but Rizzo was plunked. Stanton struck out swinging and LeMahieu lined out to a diving Verdugo to end the inning. Sox manager Alex Cora learned nothing from last year and pulled Eovaldi after just 76 pitches. He allowed 3 runs in 5 innings while striking out seven.
The Sox struck back in the top of the sixth with Clay Holmes on the mound. Bogaerts smacked a double to left and moved to third on a grounder to second by Martinez. Verdugo ripped a base hit to right to score Bogaerts but Story forced Alex at second. Dalbec singled to center to chase Holmes and Miguel Castro came in to pitch. JBJ walked but Vazquez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 4-3.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Gallo struck out swinging to start. Hicks singled to center but Higashioka went down hacking. Kiner also went down swinging to end the inning.
Jonathan Loaisiga came in for the top of the seventh and Hernandez grounded out to second to start. Devers struck out swinging and Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning. The Lock cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Donaldson lined out to left to start. Judge grounded out to short and Rizzo popped up to second to end the inning.
Martinez lined out to right and Yankees manager Aaron Boone pulled Loaisiga for Wandy Peralta. Verdugo struck out swinging and Story flied out to right to end the inning. Again learning nothing from last year, Whitlock returned for the bottom of the eighth and somehow froze Stanton for strike three to begin. Naturally LeMahieu hit a home run all the way to California to tie the game. That was it for Whitlock as Cora brought in Matt Strahm, the last pitcher to make it in Spring Training in a tie game in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. Not surprisingly he walked Gallo but shocked the world by coming back down 3-0 to strike out Hicks swinging. Higashioka popped up to short to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Dalbec popped up to Donaldson to start. Christian Arroyo pinch hit for JBJ and Christian swung and missed at strike three 100 feet over his head. Vazquez was rung up on a check swing for strike three to end the inning. Hansel Robles came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Kiner grounded out to short to start. Donaldson took strike three but Judge effortlessly doubled to left. Rizzo was intentionally walked and Stanton somehow struck out swinging to end the inning.
Michael King came in to pitch the top of the tenth with Vazquez starting at second base until he was replaced with Jonathan Arauz. Hernandez struck out swinging and Boone made the idiotic mistake of walking Devers intentionally. Bogaerts ripped a base hit to left to score Arauz to put the Sox on top. Martinez banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-4.
Kevin Plawecki took over behind the plate with Arauz now at short with Jake Diekman making his Red Sox debut for the bottom of the tenth. Stanton was supposed to start at second base but old pal Marwin Gonzalez ran for him. Naturally Diekman hit LeMahieu and both runners moved over on the Gallo grounder to short. Hicks was intentionally walked to set up a double play. Gleyber Torres pinch hit for Higashioka and Sox manager Alex Cora sent Ryan Brasier to pitch to him. Naturally Torres hit a sac fly to score Gonzalez to tie the game but Kiner struck out swinging to end the inning tied 5-5.
Jose Trevino took over behind the plate with Martinez at second base to start the top of the eleventh inning. Naturally Verdugo struck out swinging, Story went down hacking and Dalbec grounded out to short to end the game. Kutter Crawford came in to blow the game in the bottom of the eleventh with Kiner starting at second base. Donaldson wasted no time amd singled up the middle to score Kiner to won the game. The Yankees had walked off the Sox 6-5 on Opening Day.
Jackass of the Night is Kutter Crawford. He allowed the game
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3.
Jonathan Arauz scored a run as a pinch runner.
Nathan Eovaldi allowed 3 runs in 5 innings of work. He struck out 7 batters.
Matt Strahm got the final two outs of the eighth inning.
Hansel Robles pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Trevor Story was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Christian Arroyo struck out as a pinch hitter.
Jake Diekman was charged with the tying run in the tenth after hitting LeMahieu.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and hit a 2 run home run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 2 but walked.
Garrett Whitlock gave up a run in 2 1/3 innings.
Ryan Brasier served up the game tying sac fly to Torres but got out of the tenth inning.
Honorable Mention:
Kevin Plawecki caught the final two innings.
Final Thoughts:
Meet the new season, same as the last season. It was almost a mirror image of Game 4 last year where the starter was pulled early only for Whitlock to blow it in the eighth inning. The fact that Sox manager Alex Cora blew out the bullpen so badly they finished 30-31 last year carried over to this season. The disintegration of Adam Ottavino, Matt Barnes and Hiro Sawamura led to guys like Jake Diekman and Kutter Crawford pitching (and failing) in crucial situations. Let's not forget on the other side of the ball Trevor Story looking like absolute garbage and the Sox let Cole off the hook when they had him on the ropes in the first inning. It's only the first game of the year but the Sox don't have the bullpen this year to compensate for Cora pulling the starters too early. The offense will be there but 2015 proved even a good offense can't counter terrible pitching or bad managerial decisions. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow against the Yankees when Nick Pivetta makes his season debut against Luis Severino. The game begins at 4:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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