The IKF Game: Kiner-Falefa Leads Yanks Past Sox

One of the great things about baseball is that, when you lose to your arch-rivals, especially in the manner in which the Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, you usually have another game the next day. Frequently, it's against the same team, unless said loss was in the last game of a series. So you can get right back out there and make those bastards pay.

Last night's game at Fenway Park was another tight one, as Yanks-Sox games tend to be, especially at that wretched hive of scum and villainy in the Back Bay. Frankie Montas made his 2nd start for the Yankees, and was considerably better than he was in his 1st, going 5 innings, allowing 2 runs. Lucas Luetge pitched a scoreless 6th.

Lou Trivino got in trouble in the 7th, and was bailed out of it by Aroldis Chapman. He then pitched a perfect 8th, for his best outing in a long time.

Pitching like that deserves run support. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Andrew Benintendi led off the top of the 5th with a walk. After Jose Trevino lined to short, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit his 1st home run as a Yankee, into the seats on top of the Green Monster, bringing up memories of a previous good-field-light-hit Yankee shortstop, Bucky Blessed Dent. That tied the game at 2-2.

The game remained tied into the 9th. With 1 out, Benintendi doubled. Trevino hit a grounder to 3rd, and beat it out, enabling Benintendi to advance. IKF came up again, and laid down a "safety squeeze" bunt. That's when the runner on 3rd doesn't take off for the plate immediately, and can probably get back to base if the batter misses his bunt; as opposed to the "suicide squeeze," when he breaks for home and is a dead duck if the batter misses. The bunt was fielded by Sox pitcher John Schreiber, and he only had a play to 1st, and couldn't make it, and everybody was safe. 3-2 Yankees, with the bases still loaded, and only 1 out.

But Aaron Hicks and DJ LeMahieu both struck out, and I had a feeling that those runners left on base were going to matter.

They nearly did. With Chapman already having thrown 13 pitches, Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loáisiga both shaky lately, Zack Britton scheduled to come back from injury sometime next month, and Chad Green and Michael King both out for the season with injuries, Aaron Boone gave the ball to Scott Effross. He got a strikeout, then allowed 2 straight singles. A tough force play at 2nd put the tying run on 3rd and the winning run on 1st, with 2 outs and the dangerous Xander Bogaerts up. But Effross got him to pop up to end the game.

Yankees 3, Red Sox 2. WP: Chapman (1-3). SV: Effross (2, his 1st as a Yankee). LP: Schreiber (3-2).

IKF has come in for a lot of criticism lately, some of it genuine abuse, and some of that having been over the line, including a fake "IKF SHOT DEAD IN BRONX" article sent to his father on Twitter. IKF responded in the best way possible, at least in the regular season: By beating the Red Sox.

The series concludes tonight, as the Sunday night ESPN game. Jameson Taillon starts against Michael Wacha. Come on you Bombers: Beat The Scum!