Schadenfreude 208 (A Continuing Series)

George A. King III, Post:

P.U.

Start with Luis Severino getting punished by Andrew Benintendi for a pair of three-run homers, when he wasn't walking the bottom of the Red Sox order.

Move to Todd Frazier and Didi Gregorius committing costly errors and Aaron Judge's sliding downhill faster than a luge.

Then absorb the fact that ... the Yankees didn't do much against lefty Drew Pomeranz.

Mix that recipe in a bowl and it would smell like a sewer, which is where Saturday's 10-5 loss to the Red Sox in front of a sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd of 47,241 belonged. Pinstriped nose plugs would have been the perfect giveaway.

One night after a scintillating comeback win, the Yankees dropped to 4½ games behind the AL East-leading Red Sox. ...

As for Judge, the K-parade continued, and after going down looking in the first and third innings, he got the bat on the ball in the fifth and hit into a double play. ...

Judge's slump started July 14 in Boston ... In 26 games (25 starts) Judge is hitting .161 (15-for-93). In those 93 at-bats he has 43 strikeouts and has whiffed at least once in 29 games, which is three short of Adam Dunn's all-time record.

Saturday was a struggle, too. One with a stench attached.

King's early edition game story began:

They have been in business since 1903 and have delivered a lot of ugliness on the field, but the stench the Yankees produced Saturday against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium ranks among the worst performances.

John Harper, Daily News:

It was only one game but it felt like a summation of the state of the AL East race the Red Sox have grabbed by the throat over the last two weeks, to the point where suddenly it looks as if they might run away with the division title.

So much for that Friday night miracle win reviving the Yankees' offense and launching a run to first place.

Or to put it another way: man, the vibe sure changed fast.

With their ace on the mound less than 24 hours after that feel-good comeback victory, the Yankees had to be thinking this weekend could prove to be a turning point in catching the Red Sox. ...

Yes, it really does feel as if the Yankees are in big trouble, at least as far as catching the Sox. ... [G]laring issues continue to mount for the team in pinstripes.

Most significantly, on Saturday Masahiro Tanaka joined CC Sabathia on the 10-day disabled list ...

As if that wasn't bad enough, Jordan Montgomery was hit in the head by a fly ball while signing autographs before Saturday's game, leaving him with a cut on his right ear and some question about whether he'll be ok to pitch Sunday night. ...

With all of that as a backdrop, Severino's first clunker since July 2nd obviously came at a bad time, and it's fair to wonder if he'll hit a wall down the stretch, since he's never thrown more than 114 innings in a season, and he's now at 143 and counting after Saturday. ...

Meanwhile, pitching is only part of the concern, as Aaron Judge's second-half slump grows more alarming ...

After going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts looking on Saturday, Judge is hitting .161 (15-for-93) since the All-Star break with 43 strikeouts, and he has K'd in 29 straight games, which seems unfathomable after his remarkable first half. ...

If Judge finds his game-changing stroke again soon, the Yankees could still make a run at these Red Sox. At the moment, however, it feels as if the AL East title is slipping away in a hurry.

Joel Sherman, Post:

There was probably a way Saturday could have gone worse for the Yankees. But it would have taken cruelty and creativity to come up with it.

In less than 24 hours they went from arguably their most thrilling victory of the season Friday night against the Red Sox to a Saturday that had all the charm of a Walking Dead script.

Before a pitch was thrown, Masahiro Tanaka joined CC Sabathia on the disabled list, placed there with an inflamed shoulder. Then, while the Red Sox were taking batting practice, Jordan Montgomery was signing autographs down the right-field line protected by a net and yet somehow took a line drive off his right ear. ...

And then the game began and to make the rotation misery all the worse Luis Severino had his worst start of 2017.

Want some good news? Montgomery came through testing fine and the Yankees announced that he would still start Sunday night.

The bad news?

That would be versus Chris Sale, who generally makes the Yanks look like they should be playing in Williamsport, not The Bronx. This season, for example, the lefty has overwhelmed the Yankees with 23 strikeouts in 15.2 innings and just two earned runs allowed.

That put a premium on the Yankees carrying the good vibes of Friday into Saturday. But those good vibes stretched only two innings.

What followed was bad pitching, poor defense and hollow at-bats. ...

Peter Botte, Daily News:

The Yankees turned to rolling ace Luis Severino to ride the supposed momentum of Friday's stirring comeback victory the Red Sox.

Of course, first-place Boston then pulverized the All-Star righty for eight runs and knocked him out in the fifth inning on Saturday, sending the Yanks to an unsightly 10-5 loss at the Stadium.

Red Sox rookie Andrew Benintendi crushed two homers and drove in six against Severino ...

David Lennon, Newsday:

Generously listed at 5-10 and 170 pounds, Andrew Benintendi looks as if his entire body could fit into one leg of Aaron Judge's pinstriped pants. And for the first half of this season, the prized Red Sox rookie lived in the very large shadow of his Bronx counterpart.

But no longer. After Benintendi swatted a pair of three-run homers during the first five innings of Saturday's 10-5 rout of the Yankees ... there might be only one race left in this division during the next six weeks — for Rookie of the Year.

Now that script has flipped, and there exists the very real possibility that the surging Benintendi could overtake the slumping Judge while leading the Red Sox to the division title in the process. Simply put, Benintendi is now putting up Judge-like numbers and the Yankees' hulking phenom has shrunk in stature. ...

Judge has whiffed in 29 consecutive games — 48 strikeouts in 100 at-bats — and by striking out once every 2.74 plate appearances in the second half, he's approaching his catastrophic rate of last season, which was 2.26. ...

Meanwhile, Benintendi's lethal swing looks effortless. He's making the job look easy ... And if he keeps up this torrid pace, he might be the top rookie standing at the end, too.

Peter Botte, Daily News:

Masahiro Tanaka's uneven 2017 season took another downturn on Saturday when the Yankees placed their erstwhile ace on the 10-day disabled list with inflammation of the right shoulder.

The Japanese righthander is ... 8-10 with a 4.92 ERA in 133.2 innings over 23 starts. ...

Joe Girardi said the pitcher first informed the Yankees following that start that his right arm "was tired" from his shoulder down to fingers. Team doctors determined the issue is "nothing structural," just "fatigue and soreness." ...

Peter Botte, Daily News:

As if the Yankees didn't have enough mounting pitching injuries, Jordan Montgomery was struck in the right side of the head by a batted ball while signing autographs down the right-field line during batting practice before Saturday's 10-5 loss to Boston.

The rookie lefty remains scheduled to start in place of injured CC Sabathia in Sunday night's series finale against the Red Sox ...

"I guess he was signing autographs during their BP and he got hit in the ear," Girardi said. "His ear was bleeding. He went through tests with the doctors. We expect him to make his start tomorrow. But his ear's got a cut." ...

Montgomery was struck after a ball looped over a temporary screen down the right-field line. He was helped to the dugout and remained there for several minutes while pressing a towel to his head, before going into the clubhouse to be checked out. The ball that clipped Montgomery was hit by Boston's Sandy Leon, according to the YES Network.

Zach Braziller, Post:

Maybe the Yankees should bench struggling rookie Aaron Judge for a few days. It certainly seems to be working for the Red Sox's Andrew Benintendi.

After sitting out back-to-back games, the rookie outfielder has caught fire, and the Yankees have seen the results first hand. ...

Benintendi, 23, became the youngest Red Sox player to drive in six runs in a game against the Yankees. His 15th and 16th homers of the year also made him the franchise's first with multiple three-run homers in a game against the Yankees since Jimmie Foxx in 1938. ...

In the third inning, he jumped on a 97 mph fastball from Severino to give the Red Sox their first lead of the day, at 5-2. In the fifth, he hammered a flat slider into the right-field bleachers ...

Benintendi sat out games on July 31 and Aug. 1, and since then, has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball. He hit safely in seven of his past eight games, with six multi-hit performances, four homers, 11 RBIs and a .483 (15-for-31) average in that span.

Howie Kussoy, Post:

Yankee Stadium still erupts every time Aaron Judge steps to the plate, fans cheering the slugger like no player since Derek Jeter retired.

No one is made to feel more at home in The Bronx than Judge — even if he looks like he doesn't belong in the major leagues right now. ...

[T]he rookie went 0-for-4, and struck out (twice) for a Yankees-record 29th straight game, in a 10-5 loss to the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

Judge, who is batting .161 (15-for-93) with 43 strikeouts since the All-Star break, is only three games shy of tying Adam Dunn's all-time record for the most consecutive games with a strikeout by a position player. ...

Judge looks just as lost as he did during his initial 27-game stint last season, when he batted .179 (15-for-84) with four home runs and 42 strikeouts.

During a less pronounced portion of Judge's slump, Girardi gave the 25-year-old a day off — on Aug. 3 — and Judge responded by recording a hit in three straight games. Since then, Judge has gone 1-for-16 (.063) ...

Rob Bradford, WEEI:

Andrew Benintendi hitting a pair of home runs in Yankee Stadium with his Brooklyn-born, almost-85-year-old grandfather in attendance was a nice story Saturday. Dr. Robert Benintendi was undoubtedly proud.

"He was a Yankees fan, not anymore," the Red Sox outfielder told reporters after his team's 10-5 win over the Yankees. "Everybody else grew up Reds because I'm from Cincinnati."

G116: Red Sox 10, Yankees 5

Red Sox - 005 050 000 - 10 12  2
Yankees - 200 100 002 -  5  9  2

It took about 20 pitches for the Red Sox to tee off on Luis Severino. The Yankees' top starter had retired the first seven batters on only 19 pitches. He had a bit of trouble with the next seven, however:

BB, BB, E5, 1B (2 runs), HR (3 runs), 1B, 1B

Severino struck out the side in the fourth, but Boston smacked him around again in the fifth, scoring three runs before he recorded an out. After he left, rookie reliever Giovanny Gallegos allowed a couple of inherited runners to score. His line: 4.1-8-10-2-4, 90.

Andrew Benintendi hit two home runs and drove in six runs. At 23 years and 37 days, Benintendi is the youngest Red Sox player to drive in six runs against the Yankees since RBI became an official stat in 1920. He's also the second-youngest Red Sox player since 1920 with multiple home runs in a road game against the Yankees (Mookie Betts is the youngest (22 years, 358 days; September 30, 2015)).

Since getting two days rest at the start of the month, Benintendi has multiple hits in six of his eight games and is batting .517 (15-for-29) with four home runs. He's also now 6-for-11 (.545) with two homers against Severino.

Drew Pomeranz (6.2-7-3-2-5, 111) keeps rolling along, lowering his ERA to 3.39. He's allowed more than three runs only once in his last 11 starts. In fact, in eight of those 11 starts, he's allowed two runs or fewer.

But the Yankees did nick him for a pair of first-inning runs. After Brett Gardner singled, Pom struck out Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge, and got ahead of Gary Sanchez 0-2. But Sanchez was able to poke the next pitch down the right field line for a two-run dong.

Boston took control of the game in the third. Christian Vazquez worked a nine-pitch walk with one out. Jackie Bradley fell behind 0-2 before taking four balls. An error by third baseman Todd Frazier on Eduardo Nunez's grounder loaded the bases. Betts singled to left, scoring Vazquez and Bradley. Benintendi followed with a three-run homer to right. Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland both singled, but Xander Bogaerts lined into a double play, with Ramirez getting doubled off second.

Severino was on the ropes again in the fifth. Nunez singled, Betts doubled, and Benintendi hit another three-run shot to right. After Ramirez flied out, Moreland doubled and Bogaerts reached on a throwing error by shortstop Didi Gregorius. With runners at second and third, Gallegos relieved Severino. Devers doubled to deep center, scoring two runs and giving Boston a 10-3 lead.

After batting only .047 (3-for-64) with runners at second and/or third against the Yankees this year, the Red Sox went 4-for-11 today.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hicks led off with a walk, but Judge grounded into a double play. That hurt, because Sanchez promptly doubled. Gregorius flied to right to end the inning. (Oh, the mighty Judge is now batting .167 against the Red Sox (7-for-42). He also struck out in his 29th consecutive game.)

Devers singled to left to start the eighth, but was thrown out trying for a double. (The Red Sox had to have at least two guys tagged out on the bases, just to keep up appearances.) Vazquez and Bradley also singled, but Nunez and Betts could not bring them home.

Robby Scott, just recalled from Pawtucket, gave up home runs to Chase Headley and Jacoby Ellsbury in the bottom of the ninth. The long hits were more annoying than threatening, since the Red Sox still held a five-run lead. Scott retired the next three batters: Ronald Torreyes grounded to third, Gardner lined to shortstop, and Hicks grounded out first-to-pitcher.

The Post's George A. King III put things in perspective: "They have been in business since 1903 and have delivered a lot of ugliness on the field, but the stench the Yankees produced Saturday against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium ranks among the worst performances."

The Red Sox now have a 4.5-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. And Chris Sale pitches tomorrow night - against a rookie who was drilled in the head while signing autographs during batting practice. Sandy Leon was taking his swings at the time.

Drew Pomeranz / Luis Severino

Nunez, 2B
Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Ramirez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

Okay, so we'll take two out of three.

Both pitchers have made five starts since the All-Star break. ERAs: Pomeranz 2.64, Severino 0.83.

Dustin Pedroia is back on the 10-day disabled list, with swelling and inflammation in his left knee. Reliever Robby Scott has been called up.

Here's some good news: On Friday, the Yankees placed starter CC Sabathia on the DL (knee). Today, Masahiro Tanaka joined him (right shoulder).

G115: Yankees 5, Red Sox 4

Red Sox - 200 010 001 - 4  8  0
Yankees - 000 000 05x - 5  7  0

The Red Sox have been tagged out on the bases 64 times* this year - not including five pickoffs or 23 caught stealings  - and the most idiotic one of them all, the most mind-numbingly stupid, and probably the most harmful - has to be Eduardo Nunez trying to advance from second to third on a fly ball to left field in the top of the ninth inning. Nunez became the second out of a double play that (after the call was upheld following the Red Sox's challenge) put the final nail in a possible comeback against an extremely shaky Aroldis Chapman. It was also Boston's 16th out at third base, the most of any team in the majors.

[*: 15 more times than any other AL team.]

The reason the Red Sox found themselves praying for a repeat of July 14 was because Addison Reed and Joe Kelly flushed the game away in the bottom of the eighth. And John Farrell did not help any by leaving his two best relievers sitting on their asses in the bullpen while New York sent 11 men to the plate. That seemingly endless inning ruined what was shaping up as a convincing victory, anchored by a superb outing for Eduardo Rodriguez (6-2-0-2-7, 107). The Yankees are now 7-3 against Boston this season - and they moved to within 3.5 games of first place.

Reed took the mound in the eighth, with Boston six outs away from a 3-0 win. He hit pinch-hitter Brett Gardner in the right foot and then Aaron Hicks lifted a two-run homer down the right field line. The Red Sox still led 3-2, but then Reed allowed a single to Gary Sanchez on an 0-2 pitch and wild-pitched him to second before walking Aaron Judge.

Farrell called on Kelly, for only his second appearance since coming off the disabled list. (Brandon "1.77 ERA/1.033 WHIP" Workman was nowhere to be seen.) Kelly worked as slow as usual, which made his time on the hill seem like it lasted about a week. Didi Gregorius sliced a single into shallow left-center, and the Yankees had tied the game. Then Todd Frazier singled in the go-ahead run. Kelly struck out Chase Headley (the seventh batter of the inning) for the first out. Jacoby Ellsbury singled to short right and the bases were loaded again. Roland Torreyes lined out to left and Gregorius scored without a play. Kelly walked Gardner, reloading the bases. And now that the game had been completely flushed down the shitter, Farrell brought in Fernando Abad! Hicks popped to second, ending the torment.

On July 14, the Red Sox scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth off Chapman and beat New York 5-4. They did not hit a ball out of the infield during that amazing rally. Tonight, Chapman seemed more than willing to recreate that scenario. His first nine pitches to Jackie Bradley and Nunez: ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, called strike, ball, ball, ball. After a visit from his pitching coach, Chapman walked Mookie Betts (on a full count). Bases loaded, no outs.

Andrew Benintendi fell behind 0-2 and hit the Red Sox's first fair ball of the inning (Chapman's 18th pitch), a fly ball to the edge of the warning track in left. Hicks made the catch and threw to third, as Bradley crossed the plate. Frazier backhanded the ball and swung his glove at Nunez, who slid in face-first. He was called out - and that call was upheld after a review. Betts had also tagged and was now at second, the potential tying run. Mitch Moreland, who had come in to spell Ramirez at first base in the seventh, took a strike and lofted a routine fly to center for the game's final out.

Farrell:

I do believe there's a means to an end with this. And while the outs are going to be glaring, I still feel like when we can put pressure on the defense, we're going to look to set that tone.

Nunez:

If it happened tomorrow, I would take the chance tomorrow again. That's how we play the game. That's why we're in first place. We run aggressively.

The early innings of the game had a much different tone. In the top of the first, Betts walked and Hanley Ramirez (with two outs) crushed an inside fastball to deep left for his 18th home run of the season. The Red Sox had the bases loaded against Jamie Garcia (5.2-7-3-3-6, 103) in the third, but Garcia struck out Chris Young and got Xander Bogaerts on a grounder to the mound. In the fifth, Benintendi hit a solo shot into the second deck in right with two outs. Ramirez followed with a double to deep center and Young walked. But Bogaerts stranded both runners (5 LOB in 2 AB) with a fly to right.

Rodriguez walked two Yankees in the bottom of the first, but pitched out of trouble. The third out came on a pop to short center by Frazier. Seeing that no infielder was going to get to it, Bradley suddenly sprinted in and made a sliding basket catch. After those two walks, Rodriguez retired 12 of the next 13 batters. Torreyes doubled with one out in the fifth and went to third on a fly to center, but Rodriguez struck out Hicks looking. In the seventh, Matt Barnes walked the leadoff man, but got the next three.

It looked like the Red Sox were sitting pretty, but things took a turn for the worst in the eighth. Why Farrell ignored Workman is a mystery. Yesterday was an off-day, so he had to have been rested. In his last eight appearances, Workman had pitched nine scoreless innings, with no walks and nine strikeouts; five of the six hits he allowed were singles. ... Farrell asked Kimbrel to save a three-run lead twice in the recent White Sox series and to protect a two-run lead against Tampa Bay. A win tonight would have left the Yankees reeling, a season-high 5.5 GB. And as that chance slipped away, Farrell didn't even tell Kimbrel to take his jacket off.

Eduardo Rodriguez / Jamie Garcia

Nunez, 2B
Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Ramirez, 1B
Young, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

Steve Buckley, Herald:

Not to be nasty about this, but the Red Sox have it in their power the next couple of weeks to apply a spiked foot to the collective throats of the Yankees — all but eliminating their century-old rivals as contenders for AL East supremacy. ...

It's the perfect baseball storm for the Red Sox: They're hot, the Yankees are cool. ...

Maybe the Yankees keep pounding the Red Sox and reclaim first place. Maybe the Sox chloroform the Yankees and tighten their grip on first place. Or, heck, maybe the Sox and Yanks split these 10 games and nothing gets settled. ...

Maybe this is just the romantic in me, but I have a feeling it's about to get testy between the Sox and Yankees.

The Red Sox and Yankees will play six games against each other over the next 10 days, three in New York this weekend and three in Boston next weekend. Boston leads the AL East, with New York in second place, four games out. The Red Sox have won their last eight games, while the Yankees have lost five of their last seven.

Since the unprecedented craziness of the rivalry in 2003-2004, various sportswriters have told us that the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees is strong, it's sputtering, it's dead, it'll never return, it's coming back, it's different, etc. Now, apparently, it's strong again! (In fact, according to one of the sportswriters who has sounded the rivalry's death knell in the past, it's actually always been great!)

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

The Yankees and the Sox have chased each other all year, back and forth, one team getting hot while the other chills, then swapping places atop the standings. The Red Sox have been baseball's most precious soap opera much of the summer thanks to an opinionated broadcaster named Eck and a thin-skinned pitcher named David Price, but just when it seemed that drama might overwhelm them they bring an eight-game winning streak to Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees? They have their own concerns, a kid catcher who's lately been having trouble catching the ball and a kid slugger who's lately been having a hell of a time slugging the ball. But when they are right, they look as dangerous as anyone else in the A.L., and that's all inclusive. They have that lock-down bullpen. Saturday they'll throw Luis Severino, who is starting to summon visions of a young Doc Gooden every time he takes the mound.

And the Sox will have Chris Sale on Sunday, and all Sale has done is keep the Sox alive during their spasms of ineptitude and make them look like potential champions during their periods of prosperity. This is what Yankees-Sox has been about for close to a hundred years, and what it is supposed to be about at its very best.

George A. King III, Post:

It's the first time since Sept. 1, 2011, the blood rivals are playing each other this late in the season while holding the two top spots in the AL East.

Ken Davidoff, Post:

Which way are the Yankees running? ...

[T]heir 4½-game distance behind the Sawx marks their widest gap of the season when you factor in the loss column, which grew to four games Thursday. ...

Stopping this bleeding with a series victory, picking up a game in the standings, would help. Because right now, the Yankees are running a course that could lead them nowhere besides an October vacation.

Judge Watch: The Red Sox have shut down Aaron Judge better than any team in the league. He's hitting only .194 (7-for-36) against Boston with a .306 slugging percentage and two RBI in nine games. (Also: Judge has struck out in 27 consecutive games, batting only .181 during that time. Adam Dunn holds the MLB record at 32 games in a row.)

Boggs's Anecdote Reveals Umpire Joe West Is A Power-Abusing Asshole

Umpire Joe West was recently suspended for three games because of his comments about Adrian Beltre of the Rangers. When USA Today asked him to identify the biggest complainer in baseball, West said: "It's got to be Adrian Beltre."

West continued:

Every pitch you call that's a strike, he says, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" I had a game with him recently and the pitch was right down the middle. He tells me, "That ball is outside." ... I told him, "You may be a great ballplayer, but you're the worst umpire in the league. You stink."

After the suspension was announced, Beltre told reporters that when the two men talked during a game in early July, West claimed he was merely kidding. The extent to which West talks about Beltre leads me to believe he was not joking. (West's comments were published on June 20. I'm not sure why it took until early August for MLB to react to them.)

From what I can find online, it looks like Beltre has been ejected from a game only twice in the last four seasons (since the start of 2014): August 23, 2015 and July 26, 2017. The most recent ejection was for moving the on-deck circle, not arguing a call. West was not involved in either ejection.

The West suspension was brought up during NESN's broadcast of Wednesday's Red Sox/Rays game by Dave O'Brien. Beltre played for the Red Sox in 2010 and O'Brien said he had no recollection of the third baseman being a chronic complainer when it came to umpires' calls. (I don't either.)

Wade Boggs, working alongside O'Brien in the booth, found it "mind-blowing" that suspending West for his comments would even be considered. He then related a story he had heard about West earlier that day, on ESPN. "Calling balls, I think John Smoltz said it, he would throw a ball right down the middle and Joe West would call it a ball just to see the pitcher's reaction."

That anecdote is also mentioned in the USA Today article. Smoltz says: "Joe was infamous, or famous for testing out a pitcher early in the game. He would call a ball that was a strike to see if you were relaxed, or cool with it, to see how you'd react."

It was hard to tell what point Boggs wanted to make with this story. Was he saying that West was just another colorful character in the game's history or was he saying that West was an asshole who abused his power, changing the rules of the game as he saw fit, someone who was willing to play tricks and mind games with the hitters (or pitchers) simply to amuse himself?

O'Brien noted that West, as one of the umpires during the 2004 American League Championship Series, was instrumental in overturning two incorrect calls that had initially gone against the Red Sox in Game 6 in Yankee Stadium. Mark Bellhorn's three-run homer was called a double by left field umpire Jim Joyce before the umpires talked it over and ruled (correctly) that the ball had been hit over the fence. And when Alex Rodriguez slapped the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove while running to first base, West (the home plate umpire) was the guy who made sure that Rodriguez was guilty of interference.

O'Brien said "Red Sox fans should always remember Joe West very fondly."

Despite West's efforts at making sure the calls were correct in 2004 (he also called Dave Roberts safe at second in the ninth inning of Game 4), I have very little respect for West. I don't think he should get any extra praise from Red Sox fans simply because he did his job correctly. The fact that he didn't allow an obviously wrong call to stand and thus possibly change the outcome of the game (and series) is good, but that's what he is supposed to do. That's what's we expect him to do.

On April 8, 2010, West called the Red Sox and Yankees "a disgrace to baseball" for playing games at a slower pace than other teams. "They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace. ... Why are they playing the slowest? It's pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play." (West had finished working a series between the two teams in which the games lasted 3:46, 3:48, and 3:21.)

Several players were not amused. Dustin Pedroia: "If he doesn't want to do Red Sox and Yankee games, he should tell the umpires' union." Mariano Rivera: "If he has places to go, let him do something else." Jonathan Papelbon: "If you don't want to be there, don't be there. Go home. Why are you complaining. I'm not going to sit somewhere I don't want to be."

In 2015, Fox Sports ran an article on West:

By nearly any measure, Joe West is an awful umpire. He's got a well-earned reputation for turning situations into conflagrations, and making himself the center of attention. The numbers don't help him much, either…

In 2010, West nearly "won" a poll as MLB's worst umpire.

In 2011, West upped his game and actually won that contest.

In fairness, a 2007 study did suggest that West was one of the best, most consistent umpires on balls and strikes ... but alas, more recent data has him among the worst balls-and-strikes umpires, missing on roughly 15 percent of called pitches ...

The article also mentions that West "made a highly questionable, game-ending call on Opening Day" and then stubbornly refused to ask for help.

In 2014, West was suspended for one game for making contact with Papelbon (he grabbed his jersey), when the pitcher was with the Phillies. That story mentions that West was also disciplined for shoving Joe Torre in 1983 and may have been punished for wrestling with Dennis Cook in 1990.

Michael Rosenberg, Sports Illustrated, July 20, 2017:

Look: We know you're getting paid $25 million a year, but before you step into the batter's box and try to hammer a fastball, you're damn well going to say hello to Joe West.

You have no choice. If you don't greet him before your first plate appearance, West will hold up the game. He is the only umpire who does this, but so what? ... There is a reason Royals reliever Peter Moylan splits the umpiring profession into two groups: "There's umpires, and there's Joe West."

Other umpires work games; West controls them. ... Arguing with West directly is just as futile. When Ron Gardenhire managed the Twins, he went to dispute a call, and West warned him, "Don't step in my dirt." He meant the dirt around home plate. Gardenhire put one foot on it and was ejected before he opened his mouth. ...

West says "the best thing ever" is that "Major League Baseball spent $40 million to put in a system that proves we're 99% right." Players don't view it that way. They have seen the future, and they want to get there ASAP. One American League pitcher says his teammates talk about an electronic strike zone "at least once a series. There are probably a lot more people for the electronic strike zone now than aren't. I'm sure in the rule book it doesn't say, 'Joe West's strike zone is this or Angel Hernandez's strike zone is this.' People want to know exactly where things are." ...

"I think, as in everything in this country, there's not the respect for the official that there was when I started," West says. "And I think that's a failure of our system, not so much baseball, but the way of life. People don't respect authority like they used to. ... They're there to help you."

At the end of the USA Today article, West offers advice to young umpires. It's no surprise that his advice is the exact opposite of how he has conducted himself on the field for years:

I tell them your first responsibility is to the game of baseball ... The second is to your profession ... And the third is to do in your heart what you know is honest, moral and correct.

G114: Red Sox 8, Rays 2

Red Sox - 001 050 020 - 8  9  0
Rays    - 000 002 000 - 2  4  2

The Red Sox won their eighth straight game, as Rick Porcello (6-4-2-2-7, 82) was untouchable for six innings. The Red Sox had only three RBI, however, as the Rays helped Boston by committing two errors (they should have had three), throwing two wild pitches, and committing a passed ball. They also foolishly issued two intentional walks, both of which extended the fifth inning.

Porcello allowed a double and a walk with one out in the first, but pitched out of trouble, stranding a runner at third with a strikeout of Steven Souza. That began a string of 13 straight outs. Along the way, Porcello struck out the side in the fifth on nine pitches (foul, swinging, swinging, foul, foul, swinging, called, foul, called).

The Red Sox also stranded two runners in the first inning, but got on the board in the third, with a lot of assistance from the Rays. Andrew Benintendi (3-for-5) hit a fly ball to deep left that took Corey Dickerson to the wall. The ball went in and out of his glove - and on a play that was obviously an error, Benintendi was awarded a double. With two outs, Mitch Moreland hit a grounder down the first base line. Trevor Plouffe bobbled the ball and then made a throw to pitcher Jake Odorizzi that was a bit off-target. Odorizzi couldn't catch it and his error allowed Benintendi to score.

Tampa Bay would really lend a helping hand in the fifth. Eduardo Nunez began the inning by lining a 2-2 pitch off Odorizzi's foot. The pitcher dropped to the dirt and lay motionless on his stomach. The trainer came out and there was no discussion. He was helped off the field immediately. I assumed that he must have heard bones breaking, but x-rays were reportedly negative. Dan Jennings came in from the bullpen and gave up a single to Benintendi. Mookie Betts's hard single to center scored Nunez; Mallex Smith threw to third, too late to get Benintendi, and Betts took second.

After Jennings threw three balls to Hanley Ramirez, he was put on intentionally, loading the bases. Jennings's first pitch to Moreland was a passed ball that scored Benintendi. After Moreland grounded out, the Rays walked Xander Bogaerts intentionally, re-loading the bases. And (again) on Jennings's first pitch to Brock Holt, he threw a wild pitch, bringing in Betts. Holt grounded to the second baseman. Ramirez had started running home, but he paused. That hesitation allowed Brad Miller to sprint across the infield and tag Ramirez on the back before he could get to the plate. With runners at second and third, Sandy Leon lined a two-run single to left, giving Boston a 6-0 lead.

Porcello allowed two home runs (#s 27 and 28 against him this season) in the sixth and Tampa Bay began the seventh against him with a single and a walk. Matt Barnes got a double play on his first pitch and ended the frame with a comebacker to the mound.

The Red Sox re-established their six-run lead in the eighth. Holt doubled down the left field line and scored on Plouffe's throwing error on Leon's grounder. The wild throw to the bag-covering pitcher allowed Leon to go to second. He went to third on Jackie Bradley's groundout and scored on Sergio Romo's wild pitch.

The bullpen was superb yet again, not allowing a baserunner. Barnes quickly ended the seventh, Brandon Workman pitched a clean eighth, and Joe Kelly did the same in the ninth.

AL East: The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 11-5 to stay 4 GB. The Rays dropped to 7.5 GB.

Rick Porcello / Jake Odorizzi

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

The Red Sox are rolling. They are on a season-high seven-game winning streak. They are batting .304 over their last nine games, while averaging six runs per game.

Meanwhile:

CC Sabathia was pulled after only 57 pitches last night (only three innings, but long enough for him to give up a pair of two-run homers that sealed the MFY's fate) after possibly reinjuring his right knee. ... In their last nine games, the Yankees are batting .216.

AL East: The Yankees are 4 GB and the Rays are 6.5 GB. ... NYY/TOR.

G113: Red Sox 2, Rays 0

Red Sox - 000 100 001 - 2 12  1
Rays    - 000 000 000 - 0  2  0

When nearly half the hitters in your lineup each have as many or more hits than the opposing team, you're probably doing quite well.

Eduardo Nunez and Xander Bogaerts each had three hits and Jackie Bradley and Andrew Benintendi had two apiece. And the Rays managed only two singles off Chris Sale (8-2-0-1-13, 113) and Craig Kimbrel (1-0-0-0-3, 15). The Red Sox have won seven games in a row, a season-high.

Sale, on a mission to show that his last start (seven runs in five innings; "I was flat-out embarrassed last time") was an aberration, retired the first 10 batters and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. He struck out every batter in the Rays' starting lineup at least once. Only one opposing runner got as far as second base all night.

1st:   K   K  31          12 pitches
2nd:  F8   K  F7           8 pitches
3rd:  31   K  P6          16 pitches
4th:   K  E5  F8   K       9 pitches
5th:   K  1B  F9  13      22 pitches
6th:  F7  1B   K   K      22 pitches
7th:  BB  FC   K   K      12 pitches
8th:  P9   K   K          11 pitches

And Kimbrel:

9th:   K   K   K          15 pitches

[NESN reported that Sale threw 113 pitches, but he threw 112. This type of mistake is not uncommon for NESN. It happens a couple times each week. I don't really understand how that's possible.]

Nunez began the game with a double into the right field corner, but the next three hitters could not get the ball out of the infield and he was stranded at third.

In the fourth, the Red Sox tried very hard not to score, but they somehow pushed a run across anyway. Dustin Pedroia walked and Benintendi singled to center. Mookie Betts grounded to shortstop and avoided a double play by beating the relay to first, giving Boston runners at first and second with one out. Rafael Devers grounded back to the mound. Austin Pruitt's throw to second was to the left field side of the bag and there was no relay to first, as Pedroia scored. Xander Bogaerts singled but Mitch Moreland struck out. (Moreland also struck out to end the sixth with runners at second and third.)

Benintendi singled and stole second with one out in the eighth, but Betts struck out and Devers grounded to second. In the ninth, Bogaerts chopped a single up the middle. Moreland lined a single to right and Bogaerts went to third. After Sandy Leon struck out, Jackie Bradley singled to center, giving Boston its second run.

AL East: Josh Donaldson hit two two-run homers as the Blue Jays beat the Yankees 4-2. ... New York is 4 GB and Tampa Bay is 6.5 GB.

Chris Sale / Austin Pruitt

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

NESN Warning: Wade Boggs will be working in the booth for the two games against the Rays.

Over his career, Chris Sale has struck out 5.07 batters for every walk, which is the best ratio in major league history. Tommy Bond is second on the all-time list at 5.04. Bond threw his last pitch in 1884. During that decade, a pitcher needed to throw anywhere from six to nine balls for a walk, instead of the current four.

The Red Sox have had three six-game winning streaks this year: May 21-27, June 29-July 4, and July 31-August 6. They will try to win their seventh in a row tonight.

The Red Sox were off yesterday and are off on Thursday. They are also off next Thursday. Then they play 24 games in 25 days.

AL East: The Yankees are 3 GB and the Rays are 5.5 GB. ... NYY/TOR. (Pitchers have adjusted to Aaron Judge, who is hitting only .182 and slugging .377 since the All-Star break.)

G112: Red Sox 6, White Sox 3

White Sox - 030 000 000 - 3  9  0
Red Sox   - 201 030 00x - 6  8  0

Chris Young went 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs and five RBI, Doug Fister (6.1-8-3-0-7, 87) had another good outing (minus one inning), and the Red Sox won their sixth game in a row. The afternoon contest was played in a speedy 2:36.

Eduardo Nunez and Young both hit solo shots in the first inning. However, the first four White Sox in the second inning reached base and Chicago eventually scored three times. Young tied the game at 3-3 when his third-inning double scored Andrew Benintendi, who had singled with two outs.

In the top of the fifth, Fister stranded runners at first and third. Sandy Leon led off the home half with a double. After two groundouts, Benintendi was intentionally walked. (Bad idea!) Young looked at ball one, then launched a three-run dong down the left field line.

Addison Reed relieved Fister with a man on first and one out in the seventh, and got two quick outs on six pitches. Matt Barnes had no trouble in the eighth: K, K, 4-3. And Craig Kimbrel, after giving up a single to start the ninth, closed out the game in the same way: K, K, 4-3. (Both of Kimbrel's strikeouts were on three pitches.)

The Red Sox feel that Dustin Pedroia will rejoin the team (possibly as DH) for its next game, Tuesday night against the Rays in Florida.

AL East: The Yankees beat Cleveland 8-1 and remained 3 GB, while the Rays beat the Brewers 2-1 to stay 5.5 GB.

Mike Pelfrey / Doug Fister

Fister had been a steaming bowl of suck until last Monday, when he pitched seven shutout innings against Cleveland before being hit for a two-run dong in the eighth. Who knows what to expect today, both from Fister and this less-than-ideal lineup:

Holt, 2B
Nunez, DH
Benintendi, LF
Young, RF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Bradley, CF
Leon, C

AL East: The Yankees are 3 GB and the Rays are 5.5 GB. ... NYY/CLE and MIL/TBR.

G111: Red Sox 4, White Sox 1

White Sox - 100 000 000 - 1  8  1
Red Sox   - 220 000 00x - 4  5  1

Drew Pomeranz (6.1-7-1-1-8, 100) lowered his season ERA to 3.36 with a strong outing on Saturday night. The Red Sox got their runs early, on two-run home runs by Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley.

Boston's lead in the AL East remained at three games because the Yankees beat Cleveland 2-1. The Rays lost to the Brewers 3-0 and fell 5.5 GB.

Pomeranz gave up a home run to the first batter of the game when Tim Anderson hit his second offering out of the park to center. Boston erased the White Sox's lead in their first time at bat. An infield error allowed Brock Holt to reach base and Benintendi popped a 2-0 pitch to right for his 13th dong of the year. In the second inning, Mitch Moreland doubled with one out and Bradley homered to right with two down, giving Boston a 4-1.

The White Sox had two baserunners with two outs in both the third and fourth innings, but Pomeranz stranded all of the runners.

Chicago hurt itself with mistakes on the bases in each of the last three innings.

In the seventh, Nicky Delmonico and Alen Hanson singled, and Pomeranz departed with only one out. Blaine Boyer got ahead of Anderson 0-2 before he lined to right. Mookie Betts alertly fired the ball to Moreland at first and doubled off Hanson.

Jose Abreu singled with one out in the eighth and thought he'd try for a double. Benintendi threw him out. (The initial "safe" call was corrected after the Red Sox asked for a review.)

In the ninth, Craig Kimbrel hit Leury Garcia, the leadoff batter, with an 0-2 pitch. Kimbrel struck out Yoan Moncada. With Delmonico at the plate, Kimbrel picked off Garcia and he iced the Red Sox's fifth straight win by freezing Delmonico with strike three.

In addition to his home run, Benintendi also singled and walked. His 57 RBI are second on the team behind Betts (69).

In the NL: The Dodgers have won 43 of their last 50 games. That's the best 50-game streak since the 1912 New York Giants also went 43-7 from May 6 to July 3. The Dodgers are now 78-32, which is a 115-win pace. The major league record for most wins in a season is 116, set by the 2001 Mariners. who were 80-30 after 110 games.

James Shields / Drew Pomeranz

Betts, RF
Holt, 2B
Benintendi, LF
Nunez, SS
Devers, 3B
Young, DH
Moreland, 1B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

Pomeranz faced the White Sox back on May 31 and had his best start of the season (7-7-1-0-8, 108). He has a 2.33 ERA over his last nine starts, dating back to June 16, and he's pitched at least six innings in seven of those starts.

Small Game James has a 9.00 ERA over his last five starts and opponents pounded him to the tune of a 1.035 OPS. This is a useless stat, but it's fun to mention: Shields has a 5.42 ERA in 14 starts at Fenway Park. (He's faced the Red Sox only twice since 2013.)

The Red Sox may bring Joe Kelly (left hamstring strain) back from the disabled list today.

A Q&A with Rafael Devers:

Who was your favorite player when you were a kid?
Robinson Cano has always been my favorite player because of the way he plays. I have always been impressed with the swing he has and how humble he looks on the field. But my favorite team was always Boston because I loved watching Manny and Pedro when they were here; I would sit with my dad to watch games. ...

What kind of third baseman do you want to be?
Like Manny Machado right now because of the way he fields the ball; he can stop them all. I would also like to be like Beltre, because Beltre is also a player who has been very well-known for his bat as well as his defense. ...

I know you have to have heard that you look like you're 12 instead of 20... you look so young!
Yes, that's why they gave me my nickname. They call me "Carita" (Baby Face) for that very reason. In my neighborhood when I played vitilla [baseball with bottle caps], there was always this guy who would say 'look at this one with that fresh face,' and from then on I was "Carita." ...

So Devers thinks Cano looks humble on the field? That's certainly ... interesting. Later, Devers says he admires Cano because he "plays aggressively" and "always runs hard". Okay. There's got to be another Robinson Cano out there that I don't know about and that Devers really likes. The one I am familiar with non-chalantly fields grounders (which sometimes become errors because of his less-than-attentive nature) and often casually runs to first after hitting the ball.

And it's not just me. Yankee fans noticed Cano's lack of hustle as far back as 2005. He was benched for lack of hustle in 2008. In 2010, Newsday reported Cano had put the "lazy" label behind him. Actually, he didn't. Yankees announcer Michael Kay called out Cano for not hustling in 2013. Cano was criticized for not hustling in 2014, and the Yankees' hitting coach said Cano had been spoken to a number of times. ("If somebody told me I was a dog, I'd have to fix that. ... Robbie chose not to.") Seattle's first base coach ripped Cano for lack of effort in 2015. Cano showed a lack of attention on the bases in 2015. ... Please, Rafael, don't emulate Cano too much, alright?

WEEI's Rob Bradford is (perhaps) starting to understand these Red Sox: "The overall vibe emanating from Fenway these days are that the Red Sox are in a pretty good spot." ... But Bradford also spends four paragraphs warning giddy fans that while "everything seems peaches and cream at the moment ... things can take a turn in a hurry". (I know one thing that will not take a turn, in a hurry or otherwise: the gloom-and-doom attitude of various Boston sportswriters.)

Also: Bartolo Colon pitched a complete game for the Twins last night. When he walked out for the ninth, LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It" played over the PA. Colon, 44, has now thrown a complete game for eight different major league teams, something only two other pitchers have done (since 1900): Mike Morgan (nine teams) and Doyle Alexander (eight teams). Last night's win at Target Field gave Colon a victory in 40 major league parks. He joins Randy Johnson (43), Jamie Moyer (42), and Pedro Martinez (40) as the only pitchers to do that since 1900. (The all-time record holder is Tim Keefe, who recorded a win in 47 different stadiums from 1880-93.)

AL East: The slumping Yankees are 3 GB. The Rays are 4.5 GB. ... NYY/CLE and MIL/TBR.

Schadenfreude 207 (A Continuing Series)

George A. King III, Post:

One by one, the Yankees' hitters exited manager Joe Girardi's office at 4 p.m. on Friday after talking about the recent hitting woes that have plagued their bats. ...

"We just talked hitting," Girardi said before the Yankees' losing streak reached four games ...

Looking at the Yankees' numbers with runners in scoring position during the four-game losing streak, there wasn't much positive to rap about. During their skid, the Yankees are 3-for-26 (.115) with one hit in the past 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position. ...

The Yankees entered Friday with a .254 batting average with RISP, which was 18th among the 30 MLB clubs.

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

If the Yankees want to make the playoffs, they're going to have to hit and pitch at the same time.

But so far, the Bombers have found that nearly impossible.

In the first half (45-41), they averaged 5.4 runs per game but pitched to a 4.02 ERA. In the second half (12-9), they've pitched to an MLB-best 2.94 ERA but have averaged just 4.0 runs per game. ...

Over their last five games, the Yankees are 1-4 and have scored just 14 total runs while batting a collective .181 -- including .171 with runners in scoring position.

Ken Davidoff, Post:

Getting called out publicly by Joe Girardi is the equivalent of failing a "Music Appreciation" class in school. It requires months and months of incompetence, plus either apathy or a startling inability to execute direction. Or a mix of both.

Gary Sanchez hit that sky-high threshold Friday night at Progressive Field, as his major league-leading 12th passed ball and a pair of wild pitches pushed the Yankees toward a 7-2 loss to the Indians, their fourth straight and fifth in six games.

"He needs to improve," the Yankees' manager said of his catcher. ...

[T]he Yankees [are at] the two-thirds mark of their season. They own a 57-51 record, putting them on a pace to finish 86-76. They trail the Red Sox, victorious again Friday, by three games in the American League East. They could be out of a playoff spot altogether by the time they leave town. ...

In their past 48 games, nearly half of their season, the Yankees are 19-29. ...

Maybe Girardi's optimism will bear out and we're watching the tease before the takeoff ... Or, just as likely, their 8-2 run from July 20 to July 29 ... served as an island of good play amidst vast ineptitude. ...

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

Gary Sanchez has been a disaster defensively this season ...

The once-surging Bombers have now dropped four in a row, and trail the first-place Red Sox by three games in the AL East standings.

The 24-year-old catcher's struggles were on full display in Chicago in late June, when he received a stern lecture from Girardi after failing to block a third-strike splitter from Masahiro Tanaka that allowed the batter to reach first. ...

Sanchez has also committed 10 errors — second-most at the position. And remember, he missed 21 games earlier in the season due to a biceps injury.

G110: Red Sox 3, White Sox 2 (11)

White Sox - 000 200 000 00 - 2  9  0
Red Sox   - 000 011 000 01 - 3  8  1

Mitch Moreland's opposite field home run, hit into the Monster Seats off the appropriately-named Aaron Bummer gave the Red Sox their eighth walkoff victory of the season - and their third walk off win in the last six days. The Red Sox are now 10-3 in extra inning games, and because Cleveland beat the Yankees 7-2, their AL East lead is now three games. (And they get to feast on Big Game James tomorrow!)

The HR link above is the Chicago feed, which makes it extra-delicious! The ball goes over the Wall and they are utterly quiet before realizing that, sadly, they actually have to do their jobs and say something.

The win was the 400th of John Farrell's Red Sox managerial career and it came on his 55th birthday.

Eduardo Rodriguez (6-4-2-2-5, 118) pitched well, and his teammates tied the score in the middle innings. The Red Sox had managed only one hit through the first four innings, but Rafael Devers, Chris Young, and Xander Bogaerts began the fifth with singles, which resulted in a run. The Red Sox would then squander the opportunity for more. Jackie Bradley reached on a one-out infield hit, loading the bases. Mookie Betts grounded to first and Bogaerts was forced at the plate. Andrew Benintendi struck out on three pitches. Eduardo Nunez hit Carlos Rodon's (7.2-6-2-0-11, 113) first pitch of the sixth for a game-tying home run.

Addison Reed gave up a two-out single to Tim Anderson in the seventh, and Christian Vazquez threw him out when he tried stealing second. In the eighth, Matt Barnes walked Jose Abreu with one out, but got out of trouble on a fielder's choice grounder and a strikeout of Leury Garcia. Craig Kimbrel dug himself a hole in the ninth when Yoan Moncada and Nicky Delmonico singled with no outs. Adam Engel grounded to third, moving the runners to second and third. Kimbrel had the Fenway Park crowd on its feet and roaring as he struck out both Yolmer Sanchez and Anderson.

The Red Sox's bats were very quiet in the later innings. After Nunez's home run, the White Sox retired eight Boston batters in row. Nunez snapped that string with a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth, but Hanley Ramirez struck out. And then the Red Sox were retired in order in the ninth and tenth. In the eleventh, Bummer got Benintendi and Nunez on flyouts and had a 2-2 count on Moreland. But he grooved a slider and Moreland ended the game in grand fashion. (So that makes only three baserunners for the Red Sox over the final six innings, but we'll not worry about that now.)

The Red Sox have won four in a row and the Yankees have lost four in a row. ... Over their last 28 innings, the Yankees have scored a whopping three runs. ... One cool note from New York: Yankees starter Jaime Garcia became the first pitcher to make three straight starts for three different teams since Gus Weyhing in 1895.

July 21: Garcia (7-7-3-1-4, 91) started for Atlanta in a 12-3 win over the Dodgers.
July 24: He was traded to the Twins.
July 28: Garcia (6.2-8-3-3-7, 98) started for the Twins in a 6-3 win over the A's.
July 30: He was traded to the Yankees.
August 4: Garcia (4.2-5-6-4-4, 87) started for the Yankees in a 7-2 loss to Cleveland.

Shocking!:

Carlos Rodon / Eduardo Rodriguez

Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Nunez, 2B
Ramirez, 1B
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Young, DH
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

Rafael Devers has reached base in each of his first eight major league games. He's pretty far away from the Red Sox record, however: it's 26 games, set by George Scott in 1966.

Devers has 13 hits in his first eight games. Before last night, his 12 hits were the most by any Red Sox hitter in his first seven career games since Olaf Henriksen had 14 hits in 1911.

Eduardo Nunez has 10 RBI in six games since joining the Red Sox. The only players in Red Sox history to reach 10 RBIs in fewer games are Carl Reynolds (1934) and Jake Jones (1947), who both reached 10 RBI in five games. (Reynolds went on to have 14 RBI in his first nine games.)

Here is something stupid from WEEI: "Vote: Who Is The Heart And Soul Of The Team This Week?" ... My question: Can such an unlikeable team, operating under a season-long dark cloud and struggling to keep pace [sic] with the team below it in the standings, even be said to possess a heart or a soul?

AL East: The Yankees (who the Red Sox, according to at least one sportswriter, are trying to "keep up" with) are 2 GB and the Rays are 3.5 GB. ... NYY/CLE and MIL/TBR.

G109: Red Sox 9, White Sox 5

White Sox - 023 000 000 - 5  7  1
Red Sox   - 430 011 00x - 9 15  1 

For the second consecutive game, a Red Sox starter allowed five early runs. This was not as much of a hurdle tonight as it was on Tuesday evening, however. Boston drove White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez from the mound after he had recorded only five outs (1.2-7-7-0-0, 53)\. Rick Porcello (5.1-7-5-2-6, 103) settled down after the third inning and the bullpen was perfect, with five relievers retiring all 11 batters they faced.

Rafael Devers and Mookie Betts hit two-run home runs in the first and second innings, respectively. Andrew Benintendi (3-for-3) was on base five times, with two doubles, a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch. He scored twice, stole a base, and drove in one run, but he was also thrown out twice at third base, once on a grounder to shortstop and then trying to go first to third on a hit. Both instances seemed like foolish gambles. Boston also had a runner thrown out at the plate, as third base coach Brian Butterfield sent Hanley Ramirez into what ended up as the final out in the second inning.

After Porcello retired the White Sox in order in the first, the Red Sox put a hurting on Gonzalez. With one out, Benintendi hit a ground-rule double into the triangle, and scored on Eduardo Nunez's single. Nunez stole second and came home on Ramirez's double to dead center. Devers then hit a high fly to left that landed in the Monster Seats. 4-0.

Chicago cut that lead in half in the second. Porcello walked Yoan Moncada and gave up singles to Nicky Delmonico and Tyler Saladino to put the White Sox on the board. After a wild pitch, a grounder to short scored a second run.

Christian Vazquez singled in the bottom of the second and jogged home when Betts crushed a first-pitch fastball over everything in left. After Benintendi was plunked, he stole second and scored on Ramirez's checked-swing, infield hit to second. Moncada ranged a long way to his left and threw on the run, but Ramirez beat it out by an eyelash. After a pitching change, Devers hit a fly towards the left field corner. Delmonico overran the ball slightly and it fell behind him for an error. Ramirez tried scoring from first and was gunned down.

Boston led 7-2, but Porcello gave up a three-run homer to Delmonico (the first of his career) in the third. It was the 26th home run allowed by Porcello this year, a new career-high. He allowed eight home runs in July, the most in any month of his nine-year career.

But after the third inning, the Red Sox did not allow the White Sox anything. Chicago had only two baserunners over the final six innings. Sanchez led off the fifth with an infield hit and took second on Porcello's throwing error, but the Mushroom got the next three on a grounder to first and two strikeouts. And Tim Anderson doubled off Porcello with one out in the sixth. Manager John Farrell went to the pen: Fernando Abad struck out Omar Narvaez and Heath Hembree got Adam Engel looking. And then Addison Reed, Matt Barnes, and Brandon Workman each threw a perfect inning of relief.

Boston had baserunners in every inning. Mitch Moreland doubled in the fifth and scored on Benintendi's two-out single (which followed an intentional walk to Betts). In the sixth, Xander Bogaerts singled with two outs and scored on Moreland's second double of the night.

Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit (for the fourth time this year) and everyone scored a run except Jackie Bradley. In addition to Benintendi's thre hits, Nunez, Ramirez, Moreland, and Vazquez each had two hits.

Devers Details: Devers became the fourth player in Red Sox history to hit three home runs in his first eight games. (No writer has named the other three guys. Using B-Ref's Play Index, I can find only two: Sam Horn in 1987 (5 HRs) and Mo Vaughn in 1991 (3 HRs)). ... Elias reported that Devers is the first player in modern history (since 1900) with at least 13 hits and three home runs in his first eight games before turning 21. (That's slicing things a bit too thin for my tastes, but there you go.) ... With his four hits on Monday, Devers became the third Red Sox player in the last 105 years to record 10 hits in his first six games, joining Ted Williams (11 hits) and Ted Cox (10 hits).

"I didn't think it would be this good," Devers said after tonight's game.

NESN: Dennis Eckersley returned to the booth tonight. He addressed viewers: "I don't want to bebop around. It's been brutal really because it's a very unfortunate set of circumstances but I think everybody wants to move on. I'm the guy that wants to move on and the fans, I want to say the fans have been great. The support they have given me is incredible but let's move on, the Red Sox are trying to win."

AL East: Cleveland and Corey Kluber (9-3-1-1-11, 106) beat the Yankees 5-1. New York committed three errors in the first inning, dooming Sonny Gray to a loss in his MFY debut. The Yankees dropped 2 GB. The Rays beat the Astros 5-3 and remained 3.5 GB.

Miguel Gonzalez / Rick Porcello

Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Nunez, 2B
Ramirez, DH
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

Former Red Sox top prospect Yoan Moncada returns to Fenway. In eight games with Boston in September 2016, he went 4-for-19 (.211) and was traded to Chicago in the the Chris Sale deal. Since being called up by the White Sox on July 19, Moncada has hit .105/.261/.263 in 12 games. He has missed the last two games because of a right knee contusion.

Sean McAdam (Boston Sports Journal) reports that Red Sox ownership ordered Dave Dombrowski not to deal any of the team's top prospects at the trade deadline. (BSJ is subscription-only, but WEEI has a key paragraph:)

Two teams that dealt with the Red Sox leading up to the deadline got the distinct impression Dombrowski was not in a position to include any of the Red Sox' top prospects in any deals. And, indeed, another industry source confirmed Red Sox' upper management and ownership made it clear to Dombrowski the organization's premier prospects were not to be dealt.

AL East: The Yankees are 1 GB and the Rays are 3.5 GB. ... NYY/CLE and TBR/HOU.

G109: Cleveland at Red Sox, Postponed (Rain)

Cleveland - 
Red Sox   - 

Wednesday night's game against Cleveland was rained out. It will be made up on Monday, August 14.

AL East: The Tigers beat the Yankees 2-0, so New York is now 1 GB the Red Sox in the AL East.

Trevor Bauer / Rick Porcello

Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Nunez, 2B
Ramirez, DH
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

AL East: The Yankees are 0.5 GB and the Rays are 4 GB. ... DET/NYY and TBR/HOU.

The 2017 Red Sox And Likeability

I am very happy to be divorced from the relentlessly negative and usually unfounded opinions of most media reporting on the Boston Red Sox. I read only a handful of reporters, and I actively avoid several others. I do not listen to sports radio, and I am unable to watch any of NESN's pre- or post-game shows. Even with those limitations, there is still plenty of information out there and I am content. And every so often I see something that reinforces how good it is to exist outside that bubble of gloom and doom.

Rob Bradford's latest column on WEEI.com, written and published after an exhilarating and improbable 12-10 victory over Cleveland on Tuesday night, reads like a missive from a foreign country. The baseball team Bradford describes bears little resemblance to the group of players I have been watching and rooting for over the past four months. The disconnect begins with the headline: "Is This Team Starting To Get Likable?"

Bradford informs me that an "often-deserved dark cloud" has hovered over the 2017 Red Sox for the entire season - and I have been shown "a tidal wave of reminders" of that dark cloud. Bradford said that last night's win, however, "made it feel like there was actually a pennant race worthy of paying attention to". He remarked that "all of a sudden ... an entire team appeared. ... It felt like maybe the Red Sox could actually keep up with those Yankees, after all."

Okay, Rob, are you referring to the same Red Sox that have been higher in the AL East standings than "those Yankees" for 30 out of the last 34 days? And are currently in first place as I type? Because the way you are describing the Red Sox struggling to remain in step with New York makes me think they are mired in third place (which is actually where the Yankees were less than two weeks ago).

Bradford claims that for the entire season, the Red Sox have been "Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel and then everybody else". Seriously? No hitters or fielders have helped to any appreciable degree?

To cite one blindingly obvious example, Mookie Betts is 4th in the AL in WAR (B-Ref), tied with Sale. He's 9th in hits, 5th in runs scored, 3rd in doubles, 7th in stolen bases, 8th in best SB%, 8th in extra base hits, and 3rd in times on base. Some fielding metrics say that he's the best defensive right fielder in the majors. Betts also finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting last year, and many observers felt he should have won the award. ... Is Bradford looking solely at Betts's numbers from last month?

I've followed unlikeable Red Sox teams over the past four decades - and this group is absolutely not one of them. It's not even close.

Bradford thinks - seemingly based on one walkoff victory - that these Red Sox "might be a team worth paying attention to". BUT ... be careful. All this happy talk of Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez could vanish after only one loss, and then the dark cloud would come roaring back we'd be "right back to Eckersley and Price, and/or how this team isn't built to hit enough keep up with New York".

Bradford concludes:

Still, as we sit here right now, it's slowly starting to feel like this group might have a chance. And that's something that wasn't part of the equation not too long ago.

Again, despite almost the entire lineup being in a hitting slump for the last four weeks, the Red Sox kept their grip on first place for nearly the entire month of July. After a few days of being 0.5 GB, they moved back on top -- and Bradford is "slowly starting to feel like this group might have a chance".

A chance at what? Of doing exactly what it has been doing for weeks and weeks? Boston's winning percentage in April was .542. Its winning percentage for the entire season is .546. The Red Sox are in first place and they have been playing like a first place team all season. Yet Bradford isn't sure these first-place Red Sox will be able to "keep up" with the second-place Yankees (who were very recently in third place). That makes no sense.

G108: Red Sox 12, Cleveland 10

Cleveland - 320 020 012 - 10 13  1
Red Sox   - 050 004 003 - 12 15  0

PUT THIS HOMER ON THE WORLD SERIES DVD pic.twitter.com/KPGXyFq1g4

— Steve Perrault (@Steve_Perrault) August 2, 2017

Christian Vazquez's three-run homer to dead center off Cleveland closer Cody Allen was the latest (and last) in a series of WTF? moments on Tuesday night. Chris Sale allowed five runs in the first two innings. But the Red Sox came back to tie the game, then trailed 7-5, rallied to grab a 9-7 lead, watched as Craig Kimbrel blew a save, allowing two runs and giving Cleveland a 10-9 lead.

Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Boston had Rafael Devers on first base and two outs. Mitch Moreland battled for eight pitches, fouling off four of them. He checked his swing on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt. The ball skipped away from catcher Yan Gomes and home plate umpire Marty Foster was extremely slow to call strike three. When he finally did, Moreland ran to first. He's quite slow, but there was no throw and so runners were at first and second - for Vazquez. Allen threw two balls and a called strike. Then he threw another wild pitch - and the runners advanced to second and third. Vazquez connected on Allen's 3-1 pitch and drove it to center. It hit off the outfield wall, to the right of the yellow line, and the craziness began.

In an on-field interview, Vazquez said that his father, sister, and girlfriend were at the game tonight.

The victory also propelled the Red Sox into first place, because the Tigers beat the Yankees 4-3.

Sale (5-8-7-1-5, 94) allowed singles to the first three batters of the game. That resulted in one run and Carlos Santana's two-run double made it 3-0. Brandon Guyer's two-run dong in the second put the Red Sox in a 5-0 hole.

Which turned out to be no big deal. Jackie Bradley struck out to begin the bottom of the second, but Devers walked and Xander Bogaerts doubled him to third. Moreland clubbed a three-run home run to right. Vazquez doubled to center and Mookie Betts walked. Brock Holt hit an infield single and Vazquez scored. Eduardo Nunez doubled Betts home to tie the game at 5-5. Holt was also waved around third (a dumb call from third base coach Brian Butterfield) and was thrown out; Holt danced around the tag, but missed the plate. Holt and Gomes were facing each other. Holt tried a few dekes, but was tagged out. As Cleveland issued an intentional walk to Hanley Ramirez, Terry Francona went to his bullpen, pulling the plug on Carlos Carrasco's night (1.2-6-5-3-1, 56). Tyler Olson fanned Bradley for the final out.

Sale stranded a runner at third in the third and got the side in order in the fourth. He retired the first two batters in the fifth, but Jose Ramirez doubled off the wall and Edwin Encarnacion's high fly to left carried into the Monster Seats.

Bryan Shaw, Cleveland's fourth pitcher, recorded the first out of the sixth, but Moreland doubled down the left field line and Vazquez grounded a single to center. Betts beat out a single to third, scoring Vazquez. Francona called on Andrew Miller, but the move did not work. Chris Young batted for Brock Holt and Miller hit him with a pitch, loading the bases. Nunez fell behind 0-2 but drove a double off the wall, clearing the bases and giving Boston a 9-7 lead. Miller got the second out when Ramirez grounded to third and Nunez was thrown out at the plate. After waking Bradley, he struck out Devers.

Blaine Boyer relied Sale in the sixth and gave up a double and a walk. Giovanny Urshela tapped back to the mound and Boyer threw to third, but the throw was a little late and Devers was not on the bag. Cleveland had the bases loaded with no outs. (Fernando Abad and Austin Maddox were warming up in the pen.) Boyer got an 0-2 count on Francisco Lindor, who flied to short left. Then Guyer hit Boyer's first pitch to shortstop and Bogaerts started a 6-4-3 double play.

Matt Barnes was effective in the seventh, getting two strikeouts and a grounder back to the hill. Addison Reed made his Red Sox debut in the eighth. Santana greeted him with a long home run over the Red Sox bullpen into the bleachers, cutting the lead to 9-8. Reed got the next three batters (5-3, K, L4).

Kimbrel was asked to get the save in the ninth, and turned in one of his worst innings of the year. Lindor led off the inning with a game-tying home run. It was Kimbrel's fourth blown save this year, and all four have come as the result of a leadoff, game-tying home run. It was also the first time in his eight-year career that Kimbrel allowed a homer on an 0-2 count. Kimbrel struck out Bradley Zimmer and got Michael Brantley on a grounder to second.

But both Ramirez and Encarnacion singled to right. (The three hits were the most in any game for Kimbrel this year.) He fell behind Santana 3-0. Santana fouled two pitches off befroe taking ball four, loading the bases. On an 0-1 count to Austin Jackson, Kimbrel threw an outside pitch in the dirt that caromed off of Vazquez's shin guard. Ramirez scored the go-ahead run. Jackson flied to right on the next pitch, but Cleveland led 10-9.

Allen began the ninth by making Bradley look silly, getting him swinging off-balance at curveballs for strikes two and three. Devers chopped the ball very high to third. Urshela's throw was late and Devers, despite stupidly diving head first into the bag, slowing himself and increasing his chances of making an out, was safe. Bogaerts flied to center for the second out. Moreland reached on a strikeout/wild pitch. After a second wild pitch, Vazquez hit only his second home run of the season.

Nunex drove in four runs and is hitting .500 (11-for-22) since joining the Red Sox. ... Devers's two hits upped his batting average to .429. ... Moreland and Vazquez, the #8 and #9 hitters in the lineup, each scored three times and drove in thre runs. ... Ramirez was robbed of a home run in the fifth when Jackson leapt at the bullpen wall, reached over and caught the ball, then tumbled over the fence into the pen. He held onto the ball.

The heart of Boston's order - the #3-4-5 hitters - did not score any of the 12 runs. (However, Nunez did drive in four.)

Carlos Carrasco / Chris Sale

Betts, RF
Holt, LF
Nunez, 2B
Ramirez, DH
Bradley, CF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Vazquez, C

Today: Dustin Pedroia was placed on the 10-day disabled list because of left knee inflammation, retroactive to July 29.

Sale has not allowed a run since July 6. His scoreless streak of 20.2 innings is currently the longest in the majors. In his last six starts, he has an ERA of 1.10.

Sale is the second pitcher in Red Sox history with 14 or more double-digit strikeout games in a season. Pedro Martinez did it twice (19 in 1999 and 15 in 2000). In 1999, Martinez struck out 10+ in 19 of his 29 starts (65.5%), which is insane.

AL East: The Red Sox are 0.5 GB, with the Rays 4.5 GB. ... DET/NYY and TBR/HOU.