First things first, I apologize for my lack of blogging lately. But, I’M BAAAACK.
And the Red Sox looked like they were back after slaughtering the Yanks for 3 of 4, not looking terrible in the Sunday night game. Looked like they were right back in it. And then the Tampa Bay Rays come to town and absolutely clean house. A breakdown of the Yankees series, then this past series at home against the Rays, then my thoughts on what the Red Sox have going for them into the weekend.
Yankees Come to Town
Welcome! About time they showed up to the ole ballpark. Thursday night was a lot of fun for us Red Sox fans. I EXPECTED the Red Sox to win that game after the Yankees battled against the Twins for three games and rolling into Boston at 6 o’clock in the morning. Although it didn’t seem like Porcello had a quality start, he technically earned one by going 6 innings with 3 earned runs. But it’s pretty easy to pitch when your team puts up a touchdown AND the point after in the first inning. 23 hits. Bogey with a career game. It was an ideal way to start the series. Cashner took the ball on Friday and had his best start in a Red Sox uniform. Throwing his fastball between 96-98 MPH made him effective all night and was able to keep the Yankees off-balance with his slider and changeup mixed in. The offense didn’t disappoint on Friday either. Yet again, they scored in the first inning and put the pressure on the Yankee lineup. They built and built off that lead and essentially buried the Yankees for a second night. Saturday was a little bit of a battle. Watching the game, I personally didn’t think C.C. had his best stuff and the Red Sox eventually pounced on him in the middle innings, putting up 7 runs between the 4th, 5th, and 6th. And then there was Sunday, which just happened to be the first game of this losing streak, with Chris Sale on the mound. He looked great early, then Austin Romine hit an absolute missile off him and it seemed like he lost a little confidence. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jackie Bradley Jr. make a mental mistake in the field until Sunday night. Shouldn’t someone have been at the bag? Yes, but no one was even in the vicinity. He must’ve seen a white jersey from the Red Sox dugout and thought it was a Red Sox player covering. Either way, it caused two-runs and would’ve made the ninth a little more suspenseful if that blunder didn’t happen.
The big personal takeaway from last weekend was how Benintendi swung the bat. He’s starting to return to form. And the Red Sox need him if they’re going to make this wild card push down the stretch. Overall a great series. As Matt Tehan said, “Not a 10 out of 10 weekend, but an 8 out of 10 weekend.”
Rays Come to Town
Annnnnnd then the wheels fall off. On Tuesday, Price looked great early. Then he lets up two bombs and a couple singles in the 5th and the Rays take the lead. Benintendi hits a moonshot to take the lead and then let the Rays answer back with two of their own. Very unlike the Red Sox, they got shut-out in their last four innings of at-bats, which they had a couple opportunities. Tough loss to start a series against a wild card battling team. Wednesday just seemed like the team wasn’t over the loss on Tuesday. Porcello had nothing, but ended up grinding out 5 2/3. But got in too big of a hole too early and that’s what costed them down the stretch of that game. Thursday’s story was just a combination of two bad innings. Cashner just had a mess of a 2nd inning and Darwinzon Hernandez, who I think can be an asset out the pen, just didn’t look comfortable out there in the 6th and made some bad pitches. And that all leads to a sweep.
Another Yankee/Red Sox Weekend Ahead
And here are the Red Sox are rolling into Yankee Stadium with a four-game losing streak. 4 games scheduled in 3 days. As bad as it sounds, the Sox have a couple things going for them. Their bats have been pretty solid throughout this losing streaking. They’ve been hitting the ball hard and well, have had opportunities, but just didn’t cash in enough against the Rays in that three-gamer. Another positive is that they SMASHED Yankee pitching last weekend and that has to be huge for confidence for these hitters heading into this weekend. Lastly, the Red Sox 13-game winner is on the mound to start the series. This game is huge for the Sox not only to gain an edge in the series against their arch-rival, but to snap the losing streak. E-Rod has looked great all year and it seems as if the guys elevate their game when he’s on the mound. Staring at a 3.5 game deficit behind the Rays in the Wild Card standings, this first game of the series in Yankee Stadium is pivotal for the Red Sox to get their mojo back and to continue their playoff push.
-Pat LaDouce
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