INABILITY TO BURY YANKS MAY HAUNT
Series finale vs. Yanks sure holds plenty of weight
NEW YORK — The romantic in me wants to see the Red Sox and Yankees collide in the postseason.
We haven’t had a playoff showdown between these forever baseball rivals since Boston’s magical ALCS comeback in 2004. In fact, we haven’t really had much of anything between the Sox and Yankees since ’04. And no, no, no — CC Sabathia whining about the Eduardo Nunez bunt isn’t exactly the shot ’heard round the world.
But what say you, Red Sox fans? Are you up for a Sox-Yankees October showdown?
Or are these Yankees a team you’d just as soon see the Red Sox tiptoe around in pursuit of a trip to the World Series?
We can all agree this is not a great Yankees team. Derek, Mariano and Andy aren’t walking through that door. And while the Yankees haven’t exactly beat up the Red Sox this season, that hasn’t stopped them from beating them: With their 5-1 victory yesterday in the Bronx, the Bombers are 10-8 against Boston.
That means tonight’s nationally televised regular-season finale has some real teeth to it. The Yankees can pull to within 31⁄2 games of the firstplace Sox with a win, keeping the AL East in play. If the Red Sox win, they’re 51⁄2 games up and manager John Farrell can at least think about postseason pitching plans.
Yesterday’s loss was everything you fear about the Yankees squeezed into nine innings. While these Yankees may not have the pop of old, they still have some guys who can go yard — and a couple of them did. Chase Headley hit an 0-1 pitch from Drew Pomeranz to left field for a solo homer in the second inning. And in the sixth Matt Holliday took the Sox starter out of the yard for a three-run shot.
The Holliday homer also raised questions about the manner in which Accountability John handles his pitching staff. Pomeranz had only given up the Headley homer through five innings and had allowed just two base runners over innings three, four and five. But he opened the sixth by walking Didi Gregorius and then gave up a single to center by Headley. Up came Holliday, and there went the game.
“I thought he was still in good shape,” said Farrell. “I talked with him after the fifth after he came out, still felt good. In a matter of six or seven pitches he had the walk, the base hit, and then the three-run homer.”
Not bringing in a fresh pitcher to face Headley? “We’re trying to keep Headley in the bigger part of the ballpark,” Farrell said, the idea being that as a switch-hitter the Yankees third baseman would be batting left-handed if the Sox brought in a right-hander, and it’s the porch in right field, and on and on.
Pomeranz had been pitching well, so this isn’t a good case for Farrell-bashing. But it does illustrate how quickly things can happen. And in the playoffs, this is exactly the kind of lead change that can crush a team.
Which brings us right back to tonight: If the Yankees can knock off Sox ace Chris Sale, it’ll mean two things:
• The fight for first is real. (See above.)
• The Yankees will have taken three out of four in this series and closed out 11-8 against the Sox this season, giving them some momentum if there’s a playoff reunion next month.
Sorry if we’re taking you to Broken Record Land, but this continues to be that rare first-place team with plenty of question marks.
A new question mark: What’s with third baseman Rafael Devers’ fielding? The rookie threw a ball away in the first inning (though Mitch Moreland’s stretch was lacking), and in the second inning he gobbled up a Brett Gardner grounder and then cruised a couple of steps before making the throw to first late. You simply can’t do that against a fast runner such as Gardner.
“(He) took his time setting his feet against Gardner and it cost him,” said Farrell. “These are key learning opportunities, learning moments for him.”
Agreed. But a postseason series against the Yankees would bring a ton of distractions and intangibles to the equation. All that history. All that media coverage. And, geez, don’t forget all that red-white-andblue bunting they hang from the Fenway railings in the postseason. That won’t sit well with big Yankees lefty CC Sabathia, who doesn’t like it when the Red Sox use bunting against him.
Repeat: Tonight’s game is huge. A loss by the Pinstripers gives Farrell and the Red Sox some much-needed breathing room. And if the Yankees continue to lose, maybe they slide all the way to not making the playoffs at all.
But deep down, we all know there will be more baseball played between these teams before Halloween.
Boo.