Sox having a blast
Bounce Yanks again
Until further notice, the threat level from the Yankees for the Red
Sox has been reduced to negligible.
The reason?
The Yankees don’t look up to the challenge.
And the Red Sox, especially their starting rotation as new guy Nathan Eovaldi proved once again, look too good.
Yesterday’s 4-1 win was the Red Sox’ third victory in three tries this series, the 78-34 ballclub putting on another clinic of winning baseball, which left the reeling visitors looking overmatched on all fronts.
Eovaldi followed in the footsteps of Rick Porcello’s Friday night one-hit shutout by tossing his own gem, holding the Yankees scoreless and to just three hits in his eight innings. This was only the second start of Eovaldi’s Red Sox career. He won his first one, too.
As midseason boosts to a rotation go, this one’s been a blockbuster so far.
“He’s been really, really good this season,” said manager Alex Cora. “You keep those pitches on the edge of the strike zone, it’s very tough to hit. It seems like the cutter was really, really good, a lot of late decisions from their part to either take the pitch or to swing. It’s impressive, it is. You look up and he’s throwing 100 in the eighth inning. He is who we thought he was going to be, kind of like for the way we were going to use him, and he’s been outstanding.”
Eovaldi said he felt “really good” yesterday, when the offense struck early with a Mitch Moreland two-run home run in the first, a J.D. Martinez solo shot in the fourth, then added an RBI double from Sandy Leon in the seventh.
That support combined with the recent run of dominant starting pitching — the Red Sox rotation has posted a major league best 1.65 ERA in 14 games since the All-Star break — has created a momentum for this new team of Eovaldi’s.
“I feel like we all feed off one another,” Eovaldi said. “Again, it started with Mitch hitting the home run in the beginning of the game, and then Rick last night with his performance, you want to repeat that and go out there and get the guys back in the dugout as fast as possible and keep them on the ropes.”
Closer Craig Kimbrel collected his 34th save, but he injected an alarming dose of drama, surrendering one run on two doubles and two walks before getting the potential go-ahead run to fly out to center field with the bases loaded.
The win stretched the Sox’ lead over the secondplace Yankees to a commanding 81⁄2 games with a chance to increase it to 91 ⁄2 tonight when the clubs play the series finale.
The Sox now lead their season series against New York, 7-5, an advantage they would be advised to maintain if the season were to somehow come down to a tie. The head-to-head winner would be awarded the home-field advantage in a playoff game.
The Red Sox have won seven of the last eight, and 22-of-27.
The Red Sox lineup did not go wild at the plate against starter Chance Adams, who was making his big league debut. But, the bats were more than up to the task.
As was Eovaldi, who has made a deep impression on teammates such as Martinez in his two appearences with the new team.
With Chris Sale on the shelf for what is supposedly a mild irritation in his left shoulder and Eduardo Rodriguez still out, Eovaldi means a great deal to a ballclub that looks great by any measure.
“Huge, especially, you know, dealing with some injuries right now ... with our starting pitching and depth in our lineup and stuff like that,” said Martinez. “But for him to come in and step right in and do what he’s doing has been awesome.”