The (arguably) biggest rivalry in sports had the rivalry renewed with a 7-2 Yankees win in the Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics. This set up an ALDS matchup with the MLB leading 108 win Red Sox. The Yankees were no pushovers either with 100 wins. They struggled with injuries and sometimes struggled against worse teams, but none the less, made it to the ALDS. Game 1 was on Friday night, with the starting pitches being J.A. Happ for the Yankees and the ace Chris Sale for the Red Sox. J.A. Happ was acquired by the Yankees at the trade deadline for this exact situation. In his career he was 8-4 with a 2.98 ERA, but in the playoffs, none of that matters.
The Yankees looked absolutely clueless against Chris Sale in game one. He pitched 5 1/3 innings with five hits, two earned runs, and eight strikeouts. Happ on the other hand, looked lost on the mound. He allowed the first two men on, and then gave up a three home run to MVP candidate JD Martinez. The Red Sox would tack on two more to make it 5-0. Happ lasted two innings and gave up five earned runs, which made manager Aaron Boone go to the bullpen early. He had no problems doing that considering the Yankees had the fourth best bullpen ERA in baseball this season with a 3.38. They would not allow any runs for the rest of the game, while the Yankees would score a few runs to make it 5-3.
In the ninth, Aaron Judge came up to bat to leadoff the inning. On a 1-1 count, Judge belted one into the Red Sox bullpen which, for a moment, looked like Betts was going to bring back. This made the game 5-4 and gave Yankees fans hope until Giancarlo Stanton struck out looking on three pitches and the Yankees went on to lose game one. This was a winnable game for the bombers if it were not for them batting 1-7 with runners in scoring position leaving 10 runners on base. Yankees fans had hope going into game two due to the amazing bullpen and the Yankees ability to score off the Red Sox bullpen.
Game two was Saturday night with Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees against David Price. In his post season career, Tanaka is 4-0 with a sub two ERA, while Price is 0-9 in his. The Yankees play historically well against David Price, and this game was no different. Aaron Judge hit a solo home run to start the scoring for the Yankees. 1-0 in the second inning, Gary Sanchez hit a solo home run and made it 2-0. Prior to this game, Sanchez was 6-13 in his career against Price with five home runs. Price did not last much longer after giving up another run to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. He pitched 1 2/3 with three earned runs, and did not record a strikeout.
The Yankees did not look back in this one. Xander Boagaerts hit a solo homerun in the third to make it 3-1. Nothing much happened in the next few innings, until Gary Sanchez came up with first and third in the seventh. Following a controversial force out call which, if safe, would have left the based loaded for Sanchez. On a 2-1 count, Sanchez hit a three run home run out of Fenway Park that traveled 479 feet with an exit velocity of 114.8 mph.
Aroldis Chapman closed the game and the Yankees won the game 6-2. They will go back to Yankee Stadium with the series tied 1-1. The Yankees did not lose a postseason game at home last year, and they come home with a very good chance in this series. Game three is Monday night with Yankees ace Luis Severino facing mid-season acquisition Nathan Eovaldi for the Sox.
James' Blog 