Going into last night’s game versus the “big bad Yankees” I was not worried one bit. The game was over before it started and I’ll tell you why. No it wasn’t because Stanton hit a single that should’ve been a double but he stayed at home plate looking at it like it was a no doubt home run. Time to practice some hard 90s there Giancarlo. No it wasn’t after Xander Bogaerts hit a no doubt home run to dead center field. The game was over at this instant, when Red Sox legend Jerry Remy, the Rem Dawg as he’s known in Boston, came out of the center field wall and threw out the first pitch. Remy is fighting lung cancer once again and has been away from the broadcast team for a little bit now. He was the perfect person to throw out the first pitch. He is beloved by not only the fans but by many, if not all, the Red Sox players.
The Yankees trotted out their $324 million dollar man for this win or go home match up. The problem with Garrit Cole is that in the 18 innings he has pitched in Fenway he has 14 earned runs allowed. Cole couldn’t make it out of the third inning last night after giving up two mammoth home runs. What everyone was talking about was Nate Eovaldi’s last start against the Yankees where nothing was really working for him and because of that start everyone expected the same results. What people are forgetting is that Eovaldi is a big game pitcher. He shoved last night. He got through five and a third innings pitched, only allowing four hits, giving up one earned run, and striking out eight Yankees batters. Nate was ready for the moment and unfortunately for Yankees fans Cole wasn’t. Cole was afraid to pitch to Devers last night and in the first inning it showed. He walked Devers and left a 89 mph changeup down the middle of the plate and Xander deposited the ball into the stands.
The Yankees were down 3-1 in the 5th inning with a runner on first, Aaron Judge, and Stanton up. Stanton laced another ball to deep left center and again starred down the ball like it was a home run. Judge was sent home by their indecisive third base coach and with a perfect relay from center field, to shortstop, to the catcher Aaron Judge was out by ten feet killing all the momentum the Yankees and their fans thought they had. Another Red Sox player who decided to come alive for this game was Alex Verdugo. Verdugo broke out of his slump by going 2-4 with 3 runs batted in. If last night wasn’t already bad for Yankees fans, manager Alex Cora made a call to the bullpen to close out the game with pitcher Garrett Whitlock. A little background with him, Yankees left the righty pitching prospect exposed to the Rule 5 draft, in which the Red Sox made him the No. 4 pick. Just last year he was in the Yankees farm system and today he ended the Yankees season.
The Red Sox go on to play division rivals Tampa Bay in the ALDS. Just like the wild card game everyone is counting the Sox out, I believe they could make a run to another title in the year they are supposed to be rebuilding their team.
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