N.Y. Yankees: Competition Getting High and Tight

From the desk of:  BLAME CARLOS MAY

Red Sox lead series 2-0

I - BOS 15; NYY 7

II - BOS 4; NYY 1

GAME THREE

New York Yankees

vs.

Boston Red Sox

FROM

FENWAY PARK

New York Yankees: Look What the Boston Red Sox Did to the Bombers, Again.

If not for Miguel Andujar's lead-off home run in the top of the fifth, Boston starter Rick Porcello throws a no-hitter.  No chance of pitching a perfect game, though, as Porcello plunks the very first batter of the game, coming in high and tight to Brett Gardner whom absorbs an errant 0-2 fastball in the arm.  Gardner glares at Porcello as he begins a deliberately slow stroll towards first base.

The rest of the Yankees seemingly do not take this lightly.

Or do they?

In the bottom half of the frame, Luis Severino with his very first pitch comes in high and tight to Red Sox lead-off batter Mookie Betts.  For a few fleeting seconds things move right along, that is, until neophyte home plate umpire Adam Hamari issues delayed warnings to both clubs.  Alex Cora comes darting out of the Red Sox dugout fuming at Hamari, whom immediately tosses Boston's irate manager from the game.  All the while, Aaron Boone remains docile in the Yankees dugout.

And so begins Game Two at Fenway Park.

When play resumes Andrew Benintendi's double to right brings up Steve Pearce who continues decimating Yankees pitching, this time launching a Severino offering high over the Green Monster for his fourth home run in his last six at-bats.  With two outs, Severino then issues a base on balls to Ian Kinsler.  The Red Sox continue running like thieves in the night, as Kinsler swipes Boston's fifth base of the series.  Eduardo Nunez singles Kinsler home giving the Red Sox an early 3-0 lead.

Miguel Andujar leads-off the third with a home run.  It turns out being the Yankees lone run and only hit of the game.  Rick Porcello retires the next 21 batters in order for a complete game one-hit victory over the American League's top slugging team.  Porcello pounds the strike zone, facing 28 batters; one over the minimum; throwing an incredibly economical 86 pitches with 68 (80%) going for strikes, including an unforgiving 23 first pitch strikes.  He issues no walks and strikes out nine Yankees en route to his fourteenth victory of the season against just four losses.

The Red Sox are presently having their way, not just against the Yankees, but with every team in baseball.  Now with two victories over the Yankees, they seem to have effectively sidestepped Chris Sale's missed start.  As I've eluded to twice over the last two games, perhaps the Yankees are presently too docile, too complacent, and third base coach Phil Nevins sensed this heading into Boston.  With Alex Cora banished to his office Friday evening, cooler heads did prevail.  But perhaps Aaron Boone is being too cool.  It's worth noting that at no time during the entirety of game one or two did the Yankees ever attempt to unsettle Steve Pearce at the plate with a purposeful pitch.

Boone's crew now enters Saturday's game trailing the Red Sox by 7.5 games.  Getting out of Boston with a split might have just turned into a matter of A.L. East survival.  With 54 games left in the regular season, the Yankees have time to recover.  Plus, they still have two more games left to play in this series, and six more games against the Red Sox still to come.  However, they are leaving themselves little margin for error.  The calendar reads dog days of summer, which means that time and wins are of the essence.

They are tasked today with slamming the brakes on a three game skid, and preventing any further damage to their widening second place standing.  Of course, easier said than done.  With Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez missing from the line-up, Giancarlo Stanton is presently a one-man gang.  The rest of the line-up has gone missing.  The Yankees have been doubled up through their last three games by a 13-26 margin against the stripped down Orioles and Red Sox.

They're also facing a sudden lack of pitching, if only for a day, or so the Yankees hope.  Called up from Scranton, Chance Adams will make his major league debut in the heat of a pennant race against the Red Sox.  Between Sunny Gray's ineffectiveness, J.A. Happ landing on the disabled list, Lance Lynn being pressed into action during Friday's debacle, and the overall tax being extracted from the bullpen, the Yankees face little choice.  Adams will oppose veteran Nathan Eovaldi, Boston's trade deadline acquisition from Minnesota.