As for the game, there is no stopping the Yankees it seems. They won 16 out of their last 17 games and tonight was no different. "Big Smooth" Drew Pomeranz pitched well but the Yankees offense was able to eek out the winning run and get some shutdown bullpen pitching to edge the Red Sox 3-2 at Yankee Stadium to pull within a first place tie.
Yankees ace Luis Severino took the mound in the top of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to center to start. Andrew Benintendi popped up to third but Gleybar Torres booted a ground ball hit by Hanley Ramirez. JD Martinez whiffed to end the inning. Pomeranz took the mound in the bottom of the first inning and Brett Gardner whiffed to start. Aaron Judge flied out to right and Didi Gregorius also flied out to right to end the inning.
Severino turned up the heat in the top of the second inning as Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers both whiffed to start. Eduardo Nunez doubled but Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed to end the inning. The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the second when Giancarlo Stanton smashed a 233,237 foor home run to put the Yankees on top. Gary Sanchez and Aaron Hicks worked back to back walks but Miguel Andujar and Tyler Austin whiffed. Torres popped up to short to end the inning with the Yankees leading 1-0.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third inning as Christian Vazquez singled but was foolishly thrown out at second trying to stretch. Mr. Mookie and Benintendi whiffed to end the inning. Pomeranz countered in the bottom of the third by punching out Gardner and Judge before Gregorius flied out to right to end the inning.
Ramirez grounded out to Severino the start the top of the fourth but Martinez doubled. Bogaerts flied out to left and Devers grounded out to third to end the inning. The Yankees struck again in the bottom of the fourth inning when Stanton led off with another 980 foot blast to increase the lead. Sanchez grounded out to second and Hicks flied out to center, bit Andujar singled. Austin flied out to center to end the inning with the Yankees leading 2-0.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fifth inning when Nunez struck out but the ball got away from Sanchez so Nunez too first. JBJ watched strike three go by and Vazquez whiffed, but Mr. Mookie singled. Benintendi singled and Nunez broke for home....SAFE! Benintendi took second on the throw as the Sox got on the board. Ramirez grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox were back in it 2-1.
The Yankees looked to strike back in the bottom of the fifth when Torres singled but Gardner banged into a double play. Pomeranz whiffed Judge on a full count to end the inning.
Severino recovered to strike out Martinez to open the top of the sixth inning before Bogaerts popped up to second. Devers whiffed to end the inning. Pomeranz came back for one last inning in the bottom of the sixth. Gregorius grounded out to second and Stanton grounded out to third to start. Sanchez hit a routine grounder to Devers who picked the ball up and threw it straight up in the air for an error. Hicks popped up to second to end the inning. Apart from 2 mistakes to Stanton, this was Pomeranz best start of the year. He held the high powered Yankee offense to just 2 solo shots in 6 innings.
The Sox looked to make Pomeranz a winner as they rallied in the top of the seventh inning. Nunez singled to chase Severino and David Robertson was brought in. JBJ earned the hat trick by striking out and Vazquez flied out to center. Nunez stole second and Betts lined one over the head of Gardner into the gap in left for an rbi triple to tie the game. With the go-ahead run on third...Benintendi whiffed to end the inning. Still, Pomeranz was off the hook and the game was tied 2-2.
Heath Hembree came in to crap his pants in the bottom of the seventh inning although he did Andujar to ground out to short to start. Neil Walker pinch hit for Austin and doubled before Torres walked. Hembree was so rattled he balked the two runners into scoring position and walked Gardner to load the bases. Public Enemy Number 1 aka "Machine Gun" Joe Kelly was brought in to houdini out of the mess, instead he gave up a single to Judge. Walker scored the go-ahead run but Torres was thrown out at home. Gregorius grounded back to the mound but it was 3-2 Yankees. They got revenge on Kelly...in the smallest way possible.
Chad Green was brought in for the top of the eighth inning and Ramirez greeted him with a single to put the tying run on. Unfortunately Martinez lined out to center and Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the threat. Kelly returned for the bottom of the eighth and walked Stanton. Stanton swiped second but Sanchez whiffed. Kelly uncorked a wild pitch to move Stanton to third and he broke for home on a grounder to first by Hicks. Ramirez fired home....OUT! That was it for Kelly who received a chorus of boos before he left. Carson Smith came in and struck out Andujar to end the inning.
Could the Sox crack Aroldis Chapman in the top of the ninth? It didn't seem like it when Devers grounded back to the mound to start. Nunez whiffed and everyone thought the game was over when JBJ stepped to the plate. It wasn't...somehow Chapman hit him with a pitch. Sox manager Alex Cora sent the struggling Vazquez at the plate and sure enough, he grounded out to second to end the game. The Yankees took the opener 3-2.
Jackass of the Night is Heath Hembree. He left the bases loaded while retiring just the one out.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Drew Pomeranz pitched 6 innings of 2 run ball while striking out 6.
Carson Smith got the final out of the bottom of the eighth.
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 with an rbi.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4.
Joe Kelly allowed the go-ahead run to score but no further damage in 1 1/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
The Yankees are for real and the Sox better wake up soon or else they're going to be in second place very shortly. This reminded me of the old school Yankees where they would do just enough to win more often than not. The game came down to the bottom of the order. Eduardo Nunez is hitting .238, JBJ is hitting a worthless .173 and Vazquez is hitting just .196. Something has to be done about that and thankfully there is, Cora just has to want to do it. They can easily put Swihart behind the plate or in left and get either JBJ or Vazquez out of the lineup. For some reason they just don't want Swihart in the lineup. Luckily Brock Holt is back so that gives them further options if they want Bradley or Vazquez out. The loss drops the Sox to 25-10, tied for first place with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow was supposed to be David Price but guess what, he got scratched due to the same numbness he suffered earlier this year. Instead it will be "Slick" Rick Porcello going up against Masahiro Tanaka at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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