Red Sox - 002 001 000 - 3 6 0
Yankees - 200 010 01x - 4 10 1
If Thursday's Game 3 ends up being as evenly-matched as the first two games, fans of both teams will be completely exhausted. Game 2 was packed with no less tension, elation, anxiety, relief, and terror as Tuesday's opener.
Boston manager Alex Cora stayed with starter Brayan Bello for only 28 pitches and ended up using six bullpen arms. The Yankees slipped home a run against Garrett Whitlock in the eighth and that made the difference. New York won 4-3, setting up tomorrow's Win-or-Winter Game 3.
Whitlock ended up throwing 47 pitches, including 31 in the eighth as he tried over and over to get a third out. the yankes had snapped the 3-3 tie and had the bases loaded when he left. Payton Tolle got a groundout (on a full-count pitch) to strand the trio and give his teammates a shot at tying the game. Facing David Bednar, all they could muster was a two-out fly to right, which was caught on the warning track. The short porch was not quite short enough.
Bello (2.1-4-2-1-0, 28) was not sharp. He allowed a single and a two-run homer to Ben Rice in the first inning to put the Red Sox in a 0-2 hole. He issued a walk in the second, which was erased by an inning-ending double play. On the mound in the third, Boston having tied the game 2-2, Bello gave up a single, got a force out, and allowed another single, before Cora went to the pen for Justin Wilson. The runners pulled off a double steal, putting runners at third and second. But Cody Bellinger golfed a fly to short left and Rice lined the ball right at Nate Eaton in right.
In the top half of the inning, Jarren Duran lined a first-pitch single to right-center. Carlos Rodón (6-4-3-3-6, 91) had set down the first six Boston hitters on 21 pitches. After Duran's hit, Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela showed patience and worked a full-count walk. Nick Sogard bunted to the third base side. Rodón gloved the ball and made a poor throw to first, offline and forcing Rice off the bag. The error loaded the bases. Rob Refsnyder struck out, but Trevor Story smoked a single to center. Grisham's throw went to third as two runs crossed, tying the game at 2-2.
Wilson tossed a perfect fourth, but Justin Slaten had some two-out trouble in the fifth. Grisham walked and took second on a wild pitch before Aaron Judge singled to left. Duran came in on the sinking liner and made a dive but the ball hit off his glove (and was scored a hit?). Steven Matz came in and retired Bellinger.
Boston re-tied the game as soon as possible. Story led off the sixth and homered to left. New York stranded runners at first and second in the bottom half, as Kelly relieved Matz and struck out Anthony Volpe after falling behind 3-0.
What turned out to be the Red Sox's last good scoring chance came in the top of the seventh. Rodón walked Eaton on four pitches and fell behind Duran 3-0 before hitting him with an eighth errant pitch. Fernando Cruz caught Rafaela's soft bunt fly and got Sogard to fly to left. Masahiro Yoshida came off the bench and grounded a 3-2 pitch to second. Jazz Chisholm dove to his right and threw off-balance. The ball bounced twice and Rice muffed a sweeping attempt at grabbing it. It wouldn't have mattered, as Yoshida had slid across the bag safely by that time. Story came up with the sacks full and he drove the ball to deep center, but Grisham caught it at the edge of the track.
Here's a question for you: Has anyone EVER enjoyed watching pro athletes yell and punch themselves in super-duper-slo-mo? Why do networks do this? Why have they done it for years and years and years -- and show no sign of stopping? Do these displays offer any insight? (I would like to see an entire game at that speed, though. Just make sure it comes in under 24 hours . . .)
Once Grisham caught the ball for the third out, Cruz fuckin lost it.
Calm down there, Bruce Banner. Holy shit! Twitter simply laughed at him:
@BigCityBigSmoo1
Jesus Christ it's the wild card and you are NOT that good. . . .
@OwenLucey2
Bro it's the 7th
@Prominent_Jaay
"I almost gave up a grand slam"
@iJordanMoore
Fernando Cruz acting like he didn’t just give up a 115mph rocket. stfu man
@MadKingTylor
Cruz is screaming like he didn't almost end the Yankees season
@Dru227
Lmfao what a fucking idiot he would be crying like a Lil bitch if it was gone.
@GBPHIGHERPOWER
Totally lame, I didn't react that way after the first time I got laid.
Whitlock took the ball for the home seventh. His sinker was sublime, as he struck out McMahon and froze Judge on an 0-2 pitch for strike three. In between those batters, Grisham doubled. Bellinger flied harmlessly to right. Whitlock began the eighth by getting two outs, a strikeout on a low changeup and a grounder to short on a slider in the dirt. Then, despite still keeping the ball down, everything became hard work. Chisholm worked a seven-pitch walk. Wells singled down the right field line (also on the seventh pitch); with two outs, Chisholm was off on contact and he raced around th ebases and slid in just ahead of Narvaez's sweep tag for New york's fourth run of the day.
Whitlock was at 40 pitches at that point. Cora sat and watched as Whitlock then gave up an 0-2 single to Volpe and walked McMahon on five pitches before making a move.
Work did not cooperate as I had hoped, so I listened to the TV feed after the first three innings, watching bits here and there and filling in my scorecard when I could.
Dept. of Fuck you, ESPN: After the final out, Eduardo Pérez chuckeld: "Never a doubt" (or maybe "Never in doubt"). David Cone replied: "A hold-your-breath moment there." Fans on both sides likely held their breath on that fly to "deep" right, though Cone's tone made it unmistakable which side he was on. In this series, there is not even the flimsy pretext of trying to sound neutral. The old adage "No Cheering in the Press Box" might still hold, but among various TV and radio broadcasting combos, rooting out loud for one of the team is tolerated, if not encouraged. These clowns have been called out before for showing an obvious clear bias. The writer of that piece, Karthik Sri Hari KC, mentions (as I did) Pérez referring to Stanton simply as "G":
That same pattern of imbalance appeared in the Red Sox-Yankees playoff broadcast, where Aaron Judge received endless exaggerated praise.
Karl Ravech called a 95 percent catch probability play by Judge "a great catch," ignoring Statcast data. Eduardo Perez rambled off-topic, even referring to Giancarlo Stanton as "G," which annoyed fans craving sharper commentary. These repeated lapses across broadcasts show why many viewers feel ESPN's baseball coverage has declined and grown frustrating.
Fans once trusted ESPN with baseball, but the Guardians, Mets, and Red Sox prove otherwise. If Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez, and David Cone are the "A" team, standards need recalibration.
Awful Announcing's only coverage of this ALDS (so far) concerned poor audio quality during G1. Up in Canada, ESPN sounded fine (though the picture went black for a few seconds while Chapman was dealing with the bases loaded in the B9). Honestly, I would have preferred some crackling static rather than hearing some of the inanities that unfortunately reached my ears.
I'll post the three tabloids when they appear:
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