Different mood in the greater Boston area now that the Sox are in (a tie for) second place. Still a lot of Pats and Celtics talk, too. I will be at the game on Saturday and will report back on what I find!

I'm going to take these games one at a time. Just win today.

"Lower body soreness."
WTF is that?

[3] Is that Judge, FFS?!

ryan rucco announcing :( the voice is sooooo grating!

lets go yankees!

[4] Yeah.
Okay apparently it's his calves. Interesting.

So noo Judge. I missed the pregame. That's not good.

[7] OK, thanks. And Rizzo still out. Ouch.

[1] Safe to wear Yankee gear around Fenway without being hassled?
[7] Is he out just tonight????

[10] They haven't said, but I think so.
And he is 'available to pinch hit,' so it's nothing really bad.

This may be controversial, but Douche Bag Donaldson is the kind of guy you want on your team in these games at Fenway. Sometimes the Bombers run too cool.

DJ!

Cone, Gallo may be a gifted athlete but he's not very good at baseball...

[14] True. The YES Gallo Hype Machine is in full force tonight.

Well, Winc just 'gifted' the Yankees a baserunner. Walking auto-out Gallo is a serious mistake.

Evening, Team.

I know they've got a 14 game lead but I'm still thinking the bottom of the lineup when it's Gallo/IKF/Higashioka is just a Gobi Desert of outs, could cost them in the postseason..

Ha! That’s what you get for walking Stanton.

Look at Josh Donaldson!

Boom!
Boom!

Belly to belly

[12] You were saying..
Hicks goes Crackle Crackle Boom Boom too!

And our boy Aaron Hicks, not to be outdone!

hahahahahaha!

[23] They call me The Prophet.

For some reason I'm happier about the Hicks solo shot than I am about the Donaldson salami.

[25] Thought they called you a Space Cowboy..

Three grand slams in the last five innings.
My god.
And Judge isn't playing.
It must give Red Sox fans a hopeless feeling.

Judge gets a paid day off with 'body soreness'. I'm body sore every morning now, can I get today off too?

It's gonna be one of those games, I see.

[29] You would if you were a drummer.

[27] Actually, I'm a gangster of love.

Dang. Devers is ridiculously good against Cole.

How have the Sox not signed Devers to a $250 million deal yet??

[34] And then trade him to the Dodgers.

[35] Hah! Still so unforgiveable they traded Mookie. Good for us Yankee fans though!

[36] I was also thinking of the 2012 trade for Gonzalez and Crawford, who they owed over 100M each. Can't believe it has been 10 years.

Enough with the James Caan stuff.

I’m getting he MLBN feed, talking about Boston’s rotation problems. No mention of Sale trashing the AAA clubhouse after getting pulled for a crappy start.

[39] Speaking of A-Grade douches...

[37] Wasn't Josh Beckett in that trade too?

Sale has apologized (well, sort of) and promised to give something to the affected WooSox.
Eh, whatever.
The important thing is, the Red Sox will be paying Chris Sale $10M/year from 2035 to 2039.

I'm serious.

Don't watch it Hicks, run!

Woo-hoo!

There, see!
The bottom of the order can get it done too!

(Although I realize you were talking about the Higgy version, not the Jose version.)

Man, walk Plawecki (which is like walking Gallo), then blow Duran away.
Can't predict baseball.

Michael Wacha was scheduled to start tomorrow -- he's their only good starter. But he's scratched, and I think it will be a bullpen game for the Sox instead. So that's a break.

Farking Devers

Ooof.

WTF Devers, how did he hit that pitch so far..?

Cole is determined to make this game interesting.

That really is amazing. The rest of the BoSox can't hit Cole at all, and Devers just owns him.

And the Plawecki walk comes back to bite.

This is the real Joey Gallo. Seeing a rookie(?) pitcher for the first time and swings at the first 2 pitches. Not even a look. Then watches the last strike go right down the middle. What's his plan?

[10] Depends on how much and where one sits. I haven't been to a game at Fenway since before the pandemic; sure looks like a lot of Yankee gear on people in the stands tonight.

[51] Yankees 6, Devers 5, Red Sox 0. The fans will howl when Bloom lets him go - or trades him.

[52] I feel bad for Gallo, who I think is trying way too hard. He isn't a bad player at all but he's in such a deep funk and with each passing day, it gets harder and harder for him to pull out of it. Dude needs support, not derision IMHO. Just my two cents.

Did they give the trivia answer? I was making coffee.

Cole will not face Devers again. Anyway, I hope that's the plan.

[54] Uh, he's never been very good and has been trending down for 3 years. The big issue is, we have dudes in Scranton right now who could probably be offering more than him. Andujar and Florial, for example.

Very nice, Wandy. Very nice indeed.

Magic Wandy!

Btw, Jazz Jr here watched 'Major League' for the first time. Some 1980s dated bits, but otherwise great. He laughed for about 15 mins after hearing 'You may run like Mays, but you hit like sh#t'

Oh, it's Matchups.
Usually I hate Matchups, but this does make sense.

[61] Does Booney now have a Binder?

iPad.

Neither team is going to chase. Throw strikes

Nice idea there by Joey.

Isn’t Chapman activated? Hmm.

One down

[66] Well yeah, he's pitched two perfect innings in his last two appearances!
But...
you wouldn't rather see King and Holmes???

Two

Holmes is throwing wiffle-ball moving pitches.

Three, night all.

GG team!

[70] That's just what he does. He can pump it at 98 and it just does that. It's amazing.

Yes! Nice win.

15 game lead on the Sawx!

Anyone catch Cole's postgame interview? Absolutely fascinating, and refreshingly honest. It was jarring to see a guy who's objectively one of the best pitchers in the game admit to having no clue about how to pitch to Devers. We saw the shrug of disbelief on the mound after Devers's second home run, but even a couple hours later, he had no answers. "You guys watched. Do any of you have any suggestions?" He talked about how they made good pitches and put the ball where they wanted, but Devers just beat them. "People are supposed to fail seven out of ten times in this game, but he doesn't."
And when Matt Blake came out to talk when Devers came up trailing 6-2 with two on, apparently they all told each other, "a homer doesn't beat us." It didn't, but it was suddenly 6-5. I'm really looking forward to the next time Cole faces Devers in an important spot.

Damn you Devers, that was a double

Nice play! Wrong team.

RISP hit.

Josh! That almost left the park.

Crap

Does Amazon Prime use the exact same telecast as YES?

Don't get the second out at home! Gallo did his job, though.

Good got those two runs back.

I approve of this new beating up on URPs.

That WAS the Gallo Yankee moment even if he didn't make it all the way.

This is a wild one already. Wow.

[85] Although it should have just been a sac fly.

Watching the NESN broadcast, and they’ve pretty much had enough. They couldn’t believe there wasn’t anyone up in the bullpen, and as they went to break they said, “What a sad moment for this team.”

It’s all pretty delicious.

I've never seen an outfielder lose a ball like that at night in a non-dome stadium before.

I'm sure it's happened, but that was weird.

[76] Didn't see that. Thanks for sharing.
I hope he figures out how to get him out. It's not impossible. Although if they bury the Sox in this series, he may not have to worry about it. [knocks wood]

Who cares about the all-star game anymore?

When I was a kid it used to be the biggest thing for me. That's when the AL was getting creamed every time.

Now, it seems like all style over substance. I can't be bothered. HR Derby is boring. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Carp!

Nails it!

Last night in N.C. I found tonight's game on tv. I've been checking Twitter all week and haven't seen a game since last Friday! Go Yankees!

I’m starting to feel sorry for the Sox. Naw, fuck that and Fuck the Sox.

[88] It is. And more so if you live in New England.
I mean: and more so for those of us who live in New England.

But against all of my principles, I'm feeling a little sorry for Cora. WTF is he supposed to do? His ace is on the IL. His starter has to be pulled. His reliever is getting shelled. And there are two more games to play against the Yankees after this. I have no idea what I'd do. I mean, I guess I'd do what Cora did, just leave the guy in there, hang him out to dry.

Don't get me wrong -- in my book, Cora is a cheater, branded for life.
But still I have some mercy in my heart.

Um, not good Nestor.

Hm, so what is this all about? They figured out Nestor?

Fucking Bollocks!

Cole needs to talk to Nestor about Devers.

Okay so, if we meet the Sox in the post-season, Gerrit starts, but Nestor plays first base and comes in to pitch to Devers. Cole shifts to first, then returns to pitch to the rest of the line-up.
Sure, it hurts the offense, but I think it's worth it.

[101] [102] Heh heh.

[102] Ha.The Ohtani Rule?

Oh wow I never thought of that. Wait, do they do something like that with Ohtani?? Obviously the other pitcher couldn't play a position, but still there are a lot of possibilities! Interesting.

The last time I saw Miguel pitch he had no idea where his pitches were going! Yikes. Too much stress with 9 runs on rhe board.

Whoa, Devers is out of the game. His back?

I loved that Castro performance. Very ballsy. He just pitched outside to Vazquez, and then he totally baffled him with the inside slider. If he improves his control he is going to be a great pitcher.

Hmm, mlb.tv gives me the Yankees feed on my phone. MLBN is the NESN feed, but only works on the set top.

Weird.

And two hours for half a game. Sounds about right

[105] Now, that I mentioned it I am not sure how it works. He bats when he pitches. I think they are allowed to use a DH after he gets taken out.

[109] no, he bats as the DH when pitching, when he s taken out as a pitcher, he still gets to DH.

Yeah, a dodge, but if you can come up with a similar player, you get to do it too.

That lost fly ball play was really odd, he just never even saw it off the bat??
Poor Gallo, even when he gets lucky he's out!

[110] Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.

[112] Yeah, but he got to be involved in a really cool fun play where he wasn't the butt of the joke. :)

Oops that was supposed to refer to [111].

We’re gonna need double digits

Still only the sixth..??
Ugh, Story seems like the kind of Red Sock/Sox/Sawx player I would irrationally dislike. (As opposed to Chris Sale who its very logical to hate)

Big phew.

That was way more stressful than it should have been.

[116] Sox fans despise him.
He's being paid a fortune to be a mediocre player, you know how everyone hates those guys on their own teams.
They're furious that somehow Chris Carpenter is hitting so well for us. Heh heh.

A play made! Uh oh.

I LOVE it!
When was the last time the Yankees did that?

That was cool.
I mean, I'm not a big fan of Plays, but that was fun.

Okay, double digits, I'm done. I hope King and Holmes get the evening off!

[122] They only work when you have guys that know how to bunt.
Nice change from last year anyway with the steals and bunts, IMHO.

Whew. 6 more outs to go.

Torres with an insurance run

No crooked numbers for the Yankees (in the run total). Smoltzie's favorite cliche.

I hate this. Should not be allowed.

Although, the fans seem to like it.

More runs!

Ballgame over. Thuuuuuuuuuu, Yankees Win!

Marwin instead of IKF today. Judge back in RF.
Devers is sitting it out, and Kutter Crawford is starting -- i.e., it's a "bullpen game".

Funny, if the season ended today, Yankees and Astros get byes, and the three wild cards are Tampa, Boston and Toronto. The East is stacked but the Yankees are still running away.

Gluteus Maximus.

What happens when we don't score in the first inning??? I forget. I guess they keep playing the game anyway.

Good play, Josh.

Got to take advantage of them being unable to catch fly balls.

So, the Red Sox basically have no starting pitchers. Instead they roll out Kutter. And he' s nearly untouchable.
Can't predict baseball.

Getting URPed

So I listened to the Boston radio broadcast for a bit while driving around today. Insufferable. On Friday they spent some time explaining why the Yankees aren’t as good as everyone else thinks because the guys who are playing well and pitching well don’t have a track record. Today they were adamant that the Astros are actually the best team in baseball — better rotation, and better lineup.

Last night, though I watched the Boston TV side, and I have to say that I really like Dennis Eckersley. He was really objective and gave some interesting pitching insight. Radio guys, not so much.

Hicks!

I mean, if Hicks keeps playing like this…

Hey hey Hicksy!

[140] I've listsned to the Sox radio guys before when out and around during a game, they're pretty insufferable homers. And one has an appalling Boston accent (sorry, that's really mean but it's just not pleasant to listen to. Am sure many would say that about my/our New York accents too!)

Ugh, a play.

Some of these umpires don’t realize they’re pushing themselves out of work. If these guys don’t know the strike zone, they’ll be watching robots before long.

Yay runs.

[146] Yeah, for sure.
And the thing is... it's very, very often biased against the visiting team. That makes it worse.
(Also demonstrably biased against latino players, although only very slightly.)

RSN is going to blame Cora.

That Refsnyder guy is good. Why can't we get players like that?

[149] Are fans turning on Cora? or more on the front office up in New Ingerland?

[150] heh

How many random, bearded relievers on the Sox roster? Never heard of this Schreiber before..

That is not a strike

[151] Fans, yeah. I don't know what the front office thinks. They are presumably pretty rational, and Cora has basically nothing to do with the team's problems.
[153] All they have are random relievers, and maybe half of them are bearded.

Duran looks like a child, and he also looks completely out of his league when he faces a pitcher with a good fastball.
I really really want him to say "No mas!"

[156] Deep cut! Well, everyone our age would get 'no mas' but doubt the young whipper-snappers would. (ARE there any young whipper-snappers in the Banter game threads??)

Have to admit, Donaldson's 'D' has been terrific..

Meh, let them celebrate. Could be the highlight of their season.

[158] That comment didn't age well. ;>)
Ah, ya can't win 'em all.

Taillon tomorrow for the series win.

[158] Ya jinxed him. I was surprised he was still able to throw out the runner at first.

Fuck the sox. Ugh.

[162] Yeah that was a great recovery.

Glad I wasn’t watching.

There’s something wrong with me. I seriously expect this team to win every game, and when they don’t it depresses me. Sigh.

[166] It's the type of loss. If they just lost 7-2, you can shrug today off as a bad day. But the win was in hand until it was dropped...

Hello Banterites! As promised back in [1], some words from the game tonight.

First, Gleyber's non-field, and Donaldson's bobble were even worse in person than on TV (I was sitting behind the first base dugout a few rows up). SO so so close. I was convinced we had it [167], until we didn't.

Second, Stanton is juuust off a tiny portion of a fraction. The moment he gets his timing back, he will go on a huge tear.

Third, I have never heard Fenway the way I heard it tonight. Equal amounts of "Let's go Yankees" cheers as cheers for the Red Sox, throughout the game. After Judge's double in the 10th, the "MVP" chants were impressively loud. Not sure how it sounded on TV but the row of mid-20s, mostly drunk Sox fans behind my kids and me kept commenting on it. They were equal parts pissed and shocked. Also so many "Yankees Suck" chants everytime something went our way. 2004 is a distant memory; apparently our boys are back to living rent-free in Sox fans' heads again, which I took a small amount of delight in.

And lastly, Judge. I just can't say enough about him. The catch in center, the double - he is so locked in, even when he struck out. I felt very pleased to see him and the team during this season, even if they lost and against the Red Sox.

[10] Tonight it was! I wore my old school Pettitte jersey, the kids both wore NYY caps, and no issues of any kind (just some light teasing, which after 23 years in the Boston area I am beyond used to). I saw Yankees jerseys, caps, and tshirts of all kinds all over (along with an Acúna jersey, a Machado SD jersey, and a deGrom jersey). The best Yankees apparel to me was a 23 pinstriped jersey with a black armband and the small 7 just above it. Absolutely beautiful.

Monty deserved better (again) but they'll come back strong tomorrow. Errr, much later tonight.

Thanks so much for the recap, Shaun! I’ve been to Fenway three times, but never for a game. I take my middle schoolers on a spring break trip to Boston, New York, and DC every year, and we sometimes take a tour of Fenway. (Highly recommended.) Anyway, seeing a Yankee game in Fenway is high on my wishlist. Some day.

I think it’s outstanding that Jose Trevino is going to the ASG.

Stanton!

[171] What did I say? :)

[170] Agreed!

Jeez, I like the hitting, but the aggressive base-running might not be so great.

More runs

Yum, I do like the multi-hit innings though. And beating up on Pivetta when Cora really doesn't have options.

At least Eduardo Perez and Cone are in the booth

[171] [172] Shaun, you should be a scout!

Boo!

Sigh. It's not gonna be easy.

Carpenter hammers that and gets those runs back

Carpenter is just ridiculous.

[180] He has all the tools!
He hit it right on the screws!
He "saw" that perfectly!
He got great wood on it!

Okay got that out of my system.

[182] you certainly drilled into that.

Well if Boston only keeps scoring half as many runs as the Yankees do, I’m fine with that.

Yeah but our starters are giving up a *lot* of home runs. Worrisome.
I guess the Boston line-up is good, but still.

No! This isn't right! We get to keep batting until we get two runs, that's the rule today!

[177] Thanks, RI! But I think I just got lucky from seeing so many of his fouls go flying overhead.

[186] Our starters were bound to give up a few more eventually... That said, whether MLB messed with the ball (again, sigh) or they had all the teams adjust their humidor settings, something definitely has changed beyond just regression.

The base running mistakes though, ugh. Last season was too recent.

Sigh.

I mean, three homers in five innings. I don't care if the ball is juiced, that's not good.

Modammit!

This inning is doomed.

Chapman in the sixth? Hope he can get his control back...

Btw, anyone else irrationally annoyed that Alex Verdugo's nickname is 'Duggie'??

Ohhhhhh yeah.
Aroldis Chapman. Now I remember.

Let him try to get out of it, they will need him later in the year.

Okay, well, there's one.

[194] Agreed, and actually he might be the guy most likely to get out of it, too! Because he can get a strikeout or two...

Keystone Kops in the field, WTF?

Is there something in the sky in Boston these evenings causing all this??

I feel like Gleyber makes both of those plays pretty easily.

[199] I think Hicks and Judge could easily have hauled those in. LeMahieu just has to stay out of the way..

Not really Chapman's fault -- the walks are, obviously, but he should be out of the inning unscathed.