You Love to See It: Yanks Smack Sox Around Again

In 2003, the Boston Red Sox just missed winning the American League Pennant. In 2006, they fell apart in August, and finished 3rd in the AL Eastern Division. In 2012, they had a losing season. In 2017, they won the AL East, but lost in the 1st round of the Playoffs to the Houston Astros, including Jose Altuve, a team that we now know was cheating.

Each time, the Sox tinkered with their roster, and found a new way to cheat, and won the next season's World Series.

The thought occurred to me that, with both the Sox and the Astros, especially Altuve, off to lousy starts this season, the Sox could trade for Altuve, find a new way to cheat, teach it to him, and, together, they could win the 2021 World Series. And the baseball establishment, and their willing lackeys in the national media, would insist that it was fair and square.

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Until then, though, the Sox are getting smacked around by the Yankees. As the kids are saying these days, "You love to see it."

The Yankees didn't waste any time last night at Yankee Stadium. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Luke Voit singled, and Gio Urshela hit a home run to make it 2-0 Bronx Bombers. The Sox took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 3rd, but James Paxton settled down from there, allowing only that damage over 5 innings.

In the bottom of the 4th, Gleyber Torres singled, and Gary Sanchez continued his burial of that awful season-ending start with another home run.

DJ LeMahieu had to leave the game, due to an injury. So, no Giancarlo Stanton, no Aaron Judge, no LeMahieu -- the 1st for most of the rest of the regular season, the latter 2 hopefully not for very long.

The Yankees put the game away in the 6th. Torres led off with a single, followed by Mike Tauchmann hitting a double. Sanchez struck out, but Clint Frazier, playing in right field in place of Judge (and making me nervous every time a ball came his way), hit a screamer that cleared the right field wall. Home run.

It didn't stop there. Brett Gardner doubled, and that knocked out former Yankee Nathan Evoaldi, whom Brian Cashman stupidly got rid of after an injury and came back to haunt us in the 2018 AL Division Series.

Gardner stole 3rd. That proved to be unnecessary, as Tyler Wade, who had gone to 2nd base in place of LeMahieu, doubled him home. 8-3. In the 7th, Frazier singled home 2 more runs, and Gardner got one home on a sacrifice fly.

The game was so much of a laugher, Aaron Boone brought Luis Cessa in to pitch. It seemed like a good idea: Give him work in a game he couldn't possibly blow. Sure enough, he went 1-2-3 in the 8th. But he allowed 2 runs in the 9th, before settling down and ending it in victory for the Pinstripes.

Yankees 11, Red Sox 5. WP: Paxton (1-1). No save. LP: Eovaldi (1-2).

Things I like: These include...

1. The Yankees winning.

2. The Red Sox losing.

3. A combination thereof.

The series concludes tonight. J.A. Happ starts for us, Chris Mazza for them. Happ vs. a pitcher the Yankees have never seen before? In the Sunday night ESPN game? In the words of the immortal Han Solo, "I've got a bad feeling about this!"

But things have gone pretty well for the Yankees so far, in spite of the injuries. Maybe this horrible year will turn out to be a great year in baseball.