Series 1 Recap - Red Sox @ Yankees

The Good:

• That top half of the first inning could not have gone any better if it was fully scripted. A 4-pitch walk, followed by a 2-run bomb, then Xander absolutely belting one off the wall and JD driving him in.

• Eovaldi had NASTY stuff. It was fooling guys left and right. He left 2 pitches dick-high over the heart of the plate that he got punished on.

• Verdugo actually looks like a legitimate left fielder. It’s a nice feeling not having to clench your asshole out of fear of an error every time a routine fly ball is hit out there. He actually had himself quite a series at the plate, picking up 5 hits and three RBIs

• The bullpen! I did not think they would be included in “The Good” part of this series. But it is clear that Bush’s staff read the headlines and wants to prove all of us wrong. Only 1 ER was charged to the bullpen all series and it was a Home Run off of Whitlock.

• HeroSaw’s Lettuce. Shit is majestic.

• Diekman ended the series by striking out Judge, Stanton, and Gallo. It was cool as hell, but…

The Bad:

• Diekman was leaving 80 MPH sliders right on Broadway that for some reason the scariest hitters in baseball let him get away with it. That won’t fly next time.

• Trevor Story did not impress in his debut. He was chasing pitches left and right, he looks like he hasn’t quite gelled defensively, and on top of that he had to miss the last game of the series with flu symptoms. Hopefully we can chalk it up to missing Spring Training, but it was not a hot start for our second baseman

• Christian Arroyo in the outfield. He had never started a game in right field prior to Sunday, and I think Cora was hoping he could play a Brock Holt type of role in our defense this year. If he had trouble in Yankee Stadium’s tiny left field, he has no chance at Fenway

• Vazquez just didn’t look right behind the dish. He wasn’t framing pitches he usually frames, balls were getting past him. There was something a little bit off…

The Ugly

• The offense after their first go-around. Every game in this series, the offense came out firing, and then went silent in the second half of the ballgame. It won’t be the case long term, but man was it frustrating to watch.

• Tanner Houck’s control. He simply refused to allow us to have an easy inning. Although he somehow managed to only give up 3 earned runs, there was traffic every single time he took the mound. The Yankees did not punish his walks, but they were absolutely roping balls right to our fielders.

Other notes

• The only reason we lost on Friday is that Yankee Stadium is a Mickey Mouse ballpark. Both Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu’s home runs would only have been HRs in one place, and we just happened to be playing there

• I would like to challenge Kyle Higashioka being able to play in the Major Leagues on account of Cultural Appropriation. A white should not be able to have that last name, simple and plain

• Kiké’s interview was funny, but they should launch those into the sun for games that matter. Cool during Spring Training, very fun during the All-Star game, way less fun in a game that matters. Hernandez is a showman, so he wants to make it entertaining, but you could tell he did not want to be talking to those guys.

Gambling Record

2-1 – Red Sox win game 3 and the under hits in game 2. Over did not hit in Game 3.