G21: Yankees 3, Red Sox 0

Yankees - 000 100 002 - 3  9  0
Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  3  0

Masahiro Tanaka (9-3-0-0-3, 97) pitched his first complete game since August 2015, facing only 29 batters. Xander Bogaerts's single leading off the fifth inning was the Red Sox's last baserunner of the night. Tanaka retired the last 14 Boston batters, and allowed only one runner to advance as far as second base.

The Red Sox (11-10) have scored two runs or fewer in five of their last seven games.

The time of the game was 2:21. Alex Speier tweeted that the last nine-inning Red Sox-Yankees game played in 2:21 or quicker was nearly 23 years ago: May 6, 1994 (Yankees 3-1 in 2:13).

Once again, Chris Sale (8-8-3-0-10, 109) was forced to pitch with no margin for error, thanks to a lack of run support that has plagued him in all five starts this season. Sale began by striking out six of the first eight Yankees and later became only the fourth pitcher in Red Sox history to strike out 10+ batters in four consecutive starts (joining Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, and Jon Lester).

New York's first run was unearned. Aaron Hicks dropped a single into right field to begin the fourth. He went to second as Chase Headley grounded back to Sale; if Sale had let the grounder go through, Dustin Pedroia might have been able to start a double play, but (a) nothing is certain and (b) Sale's natural reaction was to knock down the ball. Hicks went to third on a passed ball, as Sandy Leon seemed crossed-up on a 1-1 pitch to Matt Holliday. Leon did not even get his mitt on the ball as it caromed off his left shinguard. On Sale's 10th pitch to Holliday, the Yankees' DH lined out to left and Hicks tagged and scored.

Sale had thrown 103 pitches through eight innings, and manager John Farrell let him start the ninth. It was the opposite decision than the one Farrell made in Sale's last outing, which was to pull Sale after eight innings and 102 pitches. This time, Sale gave up three quick hits: two singles and an RBI-double to Holliday. Heath Hembree allowed an inherited runner to score.

Hanley Ramirez had two of Boston's three hits. He singled in the second inning, advanced to second on Mitch Moreland's groundout, but was stranded there as Bogaerts flied to right and Jackie Bradley grounded to first. Ramirez was Boston's next baserunner, singling with two outs in the fourth and being forced at second by Moreland. In the fifth, Bogaerts was erased when Bradley grounded into a 3-6-3 double play. And that was the extent of the Red Sox's offense.

NESN Note: While reading a promo late in the game, Jerry Remy mispronounced Theo Epstein's last name, pronouncing the second syllable like beer stein rather than "steen". He didn't even bother to correct himself. ... And a couple of minutes later, Remy defended home plate umpire Mark Carlson calling a strike on a Tanaka pitch that was clearly out of the strike zone. Remy's reasoning was that because Tanaka had been around the plate all night long, he deserved the incorrect call, and Carlson was justified in changing the rules to benefit the Yankees starter.

Masahiro Tanaka / Chris Sale

Pedroia, 2B
Benintendi, LF
Betts, RF
Ramirez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Bradley, CF
Leon, C
Hernandez, 3B

With the essential caveat that it means absolutely nothing to tonight's game, Sale has the lowest career ERA versus the Yankees (1.17 (10 games, seven starts)) with at least 50 innings pitched since earned runs became a stat in 1912.

How Sale fared against Derek Jeter or Jorge Posada back in April 2011 has nothing to do with how he will pitch to Aaron Judge and Roland Torreyes tonight, so why announcers always cite stats like this is perplexing. It is nothing more than Sale's numbers against various people wearing a similar looking shirt - which is pretty silly. It's no more informative than how he pitches on Thursdays, which in my experience, announcers never cite (though that is probably only because they do not have the information).

ESPN reports that the Red Sox and Yankees have split the 166 games they have played over the last nine seasons: 41-41 at Fenway and 42-42 at Yankee Stadium(s).

And I'm quoting this from SoSHer Kun Aguero for no other reason than I read it this morning and it is the 100% truth:

The strike zone in MLB is a joke. High pitches are strikes one day, balls the next. Strikes to one batter, balls to the next batter. Low balls are balls one day, strikes the next. Inside, outside, etc. If we have the technology to get an accurate strike zone electronically, I'm all for using it. And never mind the "human element" removal bullshit. We're not removing humans from the game. If it's a strike today, it should be a strike tomorrow. And next week, and forever. I have seen the EXACT same location called a strike and a ball in the same at bat. It's fucking ridiculous, and needs to stop.