"Slick" Rick Porcello got the start for the Sox and Brett Gardner flied out to right to start. Aaron Judge grounded out to second and Aaron Hicks grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox iced the game early in the bottom of the first inning against Luis Cessa. Mr. Mookie Betts led off with a single and came all the way around to score when Brock "The Hitman" Holt singled to right and Judge botched the play. JD Martinez singled but Xander Bogaerts popped up to first. Mitch Moreland doubled home Holt and Eduardo Nunez hit a squibber to Luke Voit who tossed to Cessa....AND HE MISSED IT! Martinez scored and Cessa had to come out of the game. David Robertson came into the game and Ian Kinsler beat out a double play ball to score Moreland. Sandy Leon whiffed to end the inning but it was 4-0 Sox.
Porcello returned for one more inning in his tuneup by getting Miguel Andujar grounded out to first to start. Luke Voit looked at strike three before Gary Sanchez walked. Gleyber Torres whiffed to end the inning. The Sox tacked it on in the bottom of the second against Jonathan Loaisiga as Gardner dropped a pop up by Jackie Bradley Jr in foul territory. JBJ made the Yankees pay with a base hit to right but Mr. Mookie popped up to short. Holt doubled home JBJ but Martinez whiffed. Bogaerts smashed his 23rd homer of the year to light up the crowd. Moreland grounded back to the mound to end the inning but it was 7-0 Sox.
The Sox began emptying their bench as Joe Kelly took over on the mound, Tzu-Wei Lin took over for Betts in the batting order but stayed in center with JBJ moving to right. Neil Walker singled and Adeiny Hechavarria walked but Gardner whiffed. Judge banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the third although Nunez singled to start. Kinsler whiffed and Leon banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Yankees struck back in the top of the fourth inning although Hicks grounded back to the mound to start. Andujar doubled and Voit blasted a 300,000 foot home run to put the Yankees on the board. Sanchez was plunked but Poyner punched out Torres and Walker to end the inning with the Yankees down 7-2.
Highly touted Yankees rookie Justice Sheffield came in to pitch the bottom of the fourth and the Sox tagged him. JBJ grounded out to second but Lin and Holt walked. Martinez greeted the rookie with his 43rd home run of the year to light up the crowd. Bogaerts doubled and Blake Swihart pinch ran for him. A wild pitch moved Swihart to third but Moreland popped up to third and Nunez grounded to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-2.
Cora decided to switch up his defense in the top of the fifth as Lin moved from center to short, Holt went from left to right, Swihart took over in left, JBJ went from right to center and Eduardo Rodriguez came in to pitch. Hechavarria popped up to first, Gardner whiffed and Judge looked at strike three to end the inning. Stephen Tarpley came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Kinsler grounded out to short to start. Leon grounded out to third but JBJ walked. Lin whiffed to end the inning.
Matt Barnes had the top of the sixth and Hicks whiffed to start. Andujar grounded out to short but Voit singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Barnes blew away Sanchez to end the inning. The Yankees sent up the white flag in the bottom of the fifth as Tyler Wade took over for Hicks but went to right, Ronald Torreyes replaced Judge and took over at short, Kyle Higashioka replaced Sanchez behind the plate, Walker went to left and Hechavarria went to third. Holt whiffed and Brandon Phillips pinch hit for Martinez only to strike out swinging. Swihart swung at strike three headed to the backstop and motored to first on the passed ball. Moreland walked and Sam Travis pinch ran for Mitch. AJ Cole relieved Tarpley and walked Nunez to load the bases. Rafael Devers ran for Nunez but Kinsler flied out to center to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in for the top of the seventh and Torres flied out to left to start. Walker walked but Hechavarria whiffed. Gardner lined out to third to end the inning. Leon flied out to right to begin the bottom of the seventh but JBJ smacked a ground rule double. Lin and Holt whiffed to end the inning.
Drew Pomeranz came in to pitch the top of the eighth and punched out Torreyes to begin. Wade grounded out to short and Andujar whiffed to end the inning. Chance Adams came in for the bottom of the eighth and Phillips flied out to center to begin. Swihart whiffed but Travis doubled. Devers whiffed to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to close out the top of the ninth and he froze Voit to start. Higashioka whiffed and Torres whiffed to end the game. The Sox had won the season series 10 games to 9 and this game 10-2.
Hero of the Night by default is JD Martinez. His 3 run homer matched the Yankees entire offense.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi and 3 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 3 including a 2 run home run.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 3 with a walk, run scored and an rbi.
Sam Travis was 1 for 1.
Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Rick Porcello pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless inning.
Eduardo Rodriguez got the win with a scoreless 5th inning.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Drew Pomeranz pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Brandon Phillips was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 1 with a strikeout.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Bobby Poyner allowed 2 runs in an inning
The Ugly:
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored.
Ian Kinsler was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Now that the regular season is over its time for the October dance. The only question now is who will be coming to Fenway this coming Friday night? The Oakland A's visit the New York Yankees this Wednesday night in the wild card game. I'm guessing its going to be the Yankees that win it because the storylines will write themselves in the days leading up to Game 1 of the division series. Then again if Oakland wins, all the talk will be about how Oakland did well against the Sox this year including the no-hitter. Either way what a season this was. When Derek Jeter pretty much handed the Yankees Giancarlo Stanton they were instantly named the odds on favorites to win the World Series. The consensus was if the 2016 Sox offense could mesh with the 2017 pitching then the 2018 Sox would be tough to beat. That's exactly what happened as Mr. Mookie and Bogaerts returned to form and JD Martinez filled the void left by David Ortiz. If it wasn't for injuries the Sox could have had four guys win 15 or more games. On July 1st after David Price crapped himself, the Sox were in second place. They went on a hot streak by winning 10 straight games and never looked back, sweeping the Yankees out of Fenway in early August to boot. The Sox have a chance at full redemption regardless of who their opponent is after being early dropouts the last two years. A series win isn't the ultimate goal but it would be a good start. The next game will be Friday night but as of this time we don't know who the opponent is and when. Now we wait.
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