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Red Sox Pound Yankees In “First Game” of 2018

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Does it count more now?

For over a week and despite an 8-1 start, fans have endured nagging question about just how “real” this Red Sox team is. Boston was off to a historical start to the season, but questions lingered given the quality of their opponents.

But on Tuesday—at least for a day—the Red Sox made it clear that they’re built to compete, pounding the Yankees in an unyielding 14-1 attack. The game marked just the seventh time since at least 1908 that New York lost to Boston by a 13-run margin or more. Their six unearned runs allowed was their most since July 14, 2011 at Toronto.

Routinely-dominant Chris Sale, now in his second year with the Sox, earned his first win against New York in a Boston uniform. Though 4-4 with a 1.75 ERA in 15 career games against the Bombers, Sale was 0-3 in five starts against them in 2017, his first with the Sox, including going 0-2 in three of those games at Fenway.

On Tuesday, Sale allowed eight hits (all but one were singles) over 6.0 innings. He walked no one and punched out eight, allowing just one earned run, a solo shot by the formidable Aaron Judge, who entered the game 0-for-12 lifetime against Sale.

Red Sox offense was hot right out of the gate. Mookie Betts, the lead story in a rich night of Sox offense, belted a lead-off double for a third straight game. Betts would go on to enjoy a historical night at Fenway, becoming the first big leaguer with five runs against the Yankees since Luis Castillo nearly ten years ago.

Now, some additional notes on last night’s game.

  • Sale is the first Sox starter to work 6.0+ innings against the Yankees with no walks, no more than one extra-base hit, and no more than one run allowed since Wednesday’s starter, David Price, last July 16. Before Price, the last Boston pitcher with such a game was Jon Lester on August 9, 2009.
  • Betts is the seventh player ever to score a record five runs against the Yankees and the first Red Sox player to achieve that feat since at least 1908.
  • Betts had a single, two doubles, and a grand slam. It was his 11th career game with three or more extra-base hits, tying him with Nomar Garciaparra and Dwight Evans for fifth-most such games in club history after David Ortiz (21 games), Ted Williams (19), Bobby Doerr (13) and Carl Yastrzemski (12).
  • Betts’ grand slam was the first by the Red Sox since Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s on September 13, 2013, also at Fenway.
  • Betts is the first Red Sox with four or more hits, RBI, and runs scored against the Yankees since at least 1908. The last player of any team to do that against New York was the Tigers Brennan Boesch on April 3, 2011.
  • Boston’s first three batters, Betts, Andrew Benintendi, and Hanley Ramírez, were a combined 8-for-9 (.889) with 8 runs, 3 doubles, a triple, home run, 9 RBI, and 4 walks.
  • Ramírez added three RBI Tuesday for the club lead this season (11). Ramírez now has five multi-hit, multi-RBI games this season. No other MLB player has more than three such games.
  • Ramírez is the only Boston batter in the last 100 years with multiple hits and multiple RBI in five of the team’s first 10 games.
  • The Yankees had not allowed 14+ opponent runs since a 1-15 loss against the Astros on August 25, 2015.
  • The Red Sox exploded for nine runs in the 6th inning, their most since scoring 10 in the ninth inning at the Twins last May 7. The last time Boston scored that many runs in one inning against the Yankees was May 31, 1998 (11 runs in the ninth).
  • Boston has not committed an error in any of their first 10 games, the longest streak by any major league team to begin a season since at least 1940.

 


Former Red Sox Gabe Kapler to Manage Phillies

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In this season’s game of Managerial Musical Chairs, former Red Sox skipper John Farrell still hasn’t found a seat.

On Monday, two more major league jobs were filled with the Phillies naming former Red Sox player and Single-A manager Gabe Kapler to the top on-field job. The Nationals, meanwhile, chose long-time bench coach Dave Martinez for the vacancy made after the firing of Dusty Baker. Farrell had interviewed for both roles according to reports in the Fanrag Sports and The Washington Post.

Kapler, 42, played 12 major league seasons including 2003-06 with the Red Sox. In his final year with the club Kapler was named BoSox Club Man of the Year for contributions to the success of the club and for cooperation in community endeavors.

Following the 2006 season, Kapler retired and managed the Sox’ Single-A affiliate, the Greenville Drive, in 2007 leading them to a 58-81 record. He then returned to majors playing three more seasons for the Brewers (2008) and Rays (2009-10).

Since November 2014, Kapler has been the Dodgers’ Director of Player Development.

Red Sox Nation has long spotted Dave Martinez, 53, alongside manager Joe Maddon, first with the Rays and now with the Cubs. Martinez has been Maddon’s bench coach since 2008.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said in a statement that Martinez embodies what he, and so much of MLB is looking for in the new crop of managers: “Someone who is progressive, someone who can connect with and communicate well with our players, and someone who embraces the analytical side of the game.”

A couple other notes of interest to Red Sox fans:

  • The Arizona Fall League’s 12th annual Fall Star Game will take place next Saturday at 8:00 ET. Sox prospect Michael Chavis made the roster. The 22-year-old infielder has gone 14-for-52 (.269) with 6 extra-base hits this fall playing in 12 games for the AFL’s Peoria Javelinas. You can watch the Fall Star game on the MLB Network or streaming live on MLB.com.
  • With some of the biggest names of the Red Sox coaching staff heading in new directions, WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports via Twitter that Brian Bannister (who is also a Vice President with the club) and Dana LeVangie (who has spent his entire 27-year professional baseball career in the Sox organization) are definitely staying with Boston.
  • With Joe Girardi‘s firing there was some thought that former Red Sox Tim Naehring could be under consideration to be the new Yankees’ skipper. Naehring has been a front-office executive with New York for 10 years and is said to be close to GM Brian Cashman. But ESPN’s Andrew Marchand says the former infielder isn’t interested. ESPN believes Naehring will likely be a GM somewhere in the big leagues soon enough.

Girardi Out As Yankees Manager

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More big league changes as the Yankees announced today that longtime manager Joe Girardi won’t be back with the club for 2018.

Girardi joins the Red Sox’ John Farrell and the Nationals’ Dusty Baker as the third Major League manager to be dismissed despite leading his club to a postseason appearance this season.

The former catcher made his MLB debut in 1989 with the Cubs becoming the first rookie catcher to start a season opener for Chicago since Randy Hundley in 1966. Girardi went on to play parts of 15 seasons as a catcher with the Chicago Cubs (1989-92 and 2000-02), Colorado Rockies (1993-95), New York Yankees (1996-99) and St. Louis Cardinals (2003).

Girardi, 53, made his coaching debut with the Yankees in 2005 as bench coach and catching instructor under Joe Torre, replacing his former boss at the helm in 2008.

Under Girardi since 2008 the Yankees were 910-710 for a .562 winning percentage, the best such mark in the majors in that time. His 10 seasons with New York and his 910 wins are both the sixth most in club history. He’s one of four Yankees managers with 95 or more wins in four-or-more straight seasons (2009-12), along with Hall of Famers Joe McCarthy (1936-39), Casey Stengel (1949-57) and Torre (2001-06).

Girardi (in 2009) and Farrell (in 2013) were two of the four active MLB managers this season to have won the World Series in their first seasons as manager (also Terry Francona in 2004 and Mike Scioscia in 2002).

In a statement to the press Girardi thanked the fans for “their great support as a Player, Coach and Manager and the lasting memories of their passion and excitement during the Playoff Games, especially the final six games which will remain in my heart forever.”


Red Sox May Have Lost More Than A Game Monday

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The Red Sox may have lost more than a game on Monday. The Sox fell to the Blue Jays 6-4 after a bad outing by starter Drew Pomeranz. Over just 2.0 IP, Pomeranz allowed five runs, all earned, on seven hits with a walk and no strikeouts.

With two outs in the second inning and Sox up 2-1, Pomeranz walked Darwin Barney, allowed a Ryan Goins single, then an infield hit by the #9 batter, Luke Maile, to load the bases. Pomeranz, so solid with runners in scoring position this season, then gave up his first bases-loaded hit of the season, a double to Teoscar Hernández followed by a second double to Josh Donaldson, for a 5-2 Toronto lead.

Monday’s game marked Pomeranz’ shortest start since September 13, 2016. It was just his fourth career start (of 110) in which he failed to go more than 2.0 innings.

Worse Than The Loss

As bad as a loss is, Sox fans were likely more troubled watching Mookie Betts and Eduardo Núñez leave the game early with injuries.

The Sox can ill afford losing Betts, who before leaving the game early with pain in his wrist, was 2-for-3 with his 100th and 101st runs batted in. Betts has scored 98 times this season. With two more runs, he’ll join Hall of Famer Ted Williams as the only Red Sox players ever with multiple 100 RBI/100 R seasons before turning age 25.

After the game, Betts explained that a “sharp pain” in his wrist pain began after swinging the bat a few days earlier. He may be the only one, but Betts said he wasn’t concerned, “I think I’ll be fine.” Whether he’ll rest as the Sox head towards the playoffs is unclear. “That’s not for me to decide,…we haven’t worn the division yet,” Betts said.

Meanwhile, Núñez, so pivotal to the club’s offense since arriving just before the trade deadline (53-for-165, .321), returned the lineup after missing 13 games with a bad knee. Núñez immediately stroked a first-inning double but then collapsed at the plate, clutching the knee, after an awkward swing in the in the third inning.

Bizarrely, manager John Farrell allowed Nunez to stay in the game to complete the at-bat before ultimately lifting him.

After the game, Núñez said he would rest for the remainder of this series and possibly be back for the final regular season set against Houston.

Coupled with a Yankees’ win earlier in the day, Boston lost a game in the AL East Division race. The club’s magic number to win the division held at three.


Baseball Drags Its Feet On Safety Netting

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There was concern all around Yankee Stadium yesterday when a foul ball, scalded at 105 MPH off the bat of Todd Frazier, hit a young fan down the left field line.

Play on the diamond literally came to a stop for nearly five minutes as Yankees, Twins, and umpires watched helplessly, some with tears in their eyes.

The girl’s father told reporters at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center that she’s “doing alright,” but may require surgery.

Mandating extended netting, even netting that goes from foul pole to pole, should be an easy call. Baseball, however, has dragged its feet and most ownership has not stepped up voluntarily.

Heads In The Sand

Back in December 2015, Major League Baseball toothlessly recommended, but did not require teams to extend netting to 70 feet from home plate to the inner edges of the dugout, or about 10 feet more on either side of the field. The Red Sox and the Yankees did just that. The changes at Fenway were an easy call, particularly after a woman had been recently struck by a broken bat there, suffering life-threatening injuries. Since that time, some teams have done even more. The Mets, for example, introducing extended safety netting at Citi Field during this year’s All-Star break.

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s incident, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, who manages to speak so passionately about such relatively mundane issues as pace of game initiatives, called what happened at Yankee Stadium “extremely upsetting,” adding that baseball will “redouble our efforts on this important issue.” But as recently as September 11, the Yankees were non-committal on any further extensions.

Major League Baseball, a game of numbers, keeps no official data on people hit or injured at ballparks. A Bloomberg study in 2014 estimated a surprisingly high 1,750 foul ball injuries a year, most of them minor.

Some city legislatures, including New York’s, are considering ordinances that would require extended safety netting. US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) told the baseball Commissioner in a letter on Thursday to push for it all 30 MLB ballparks.

Players Speak Out, Some Clubs Respond

“I think the netting should be up. I think every stadium should have it,” Frazier said after the game. Aaron Judge, who watched as a young fan was injured by one of his foul balls in July, agreed about netting, “We need it.”

Brian Dozier of the Twins was more pointed in his comments. “I don’t care about the damn view of a fan,” Dozier said. “It’s all about safety. I still have a knot in my stomach. We need nets. Or don’t put kids down there.”

The Reds, Mariners, and Padres have announced that they will all install extended safety netting during the coming off-season.