The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Momentum shifts as Yanks flex muscles
BOSTON — Two lasting images were seared on this 2018 American League Division Series Saturday night at Fenway Park. Images that screamed of David Price’s postseason impotence and the frightening power of the Yankees.
The first was a magnificent work of photography by Paul Rutherford of USA Today. With one out in the first inning, Aaron Judge was barely completing his swing and Price already had thrown up his head, his eyes closed, his face in a horrible grimace. Click. Click. Click. Price didn’t bother looking behind him. He knew the twin truths. That ball was lost, and he is one of the worst starting pitchers in major league postseason history.
Price had left a 90 mph backdoor cutter over the middle of the plate and when the ball finally landed it found the corner of the Monster seats closest to center field, a spot you don’t see many home runs land. But this is Judge. He hits balls to places few men can and this one would travel 445 feet.
Life is not always a snapshot. Sometimes it is rolling video. The second image arrived in the seventh inning with Judge on third base and Giancarlo Stanton on first. The Red Sox bullpen, such a source of anxiety in Game 1, had been spotless after Price was pulled in the second. That’s when Gary Sanchez leaned into Eduardo Rodriguez’s 2-1 pitch for his second home run of the night.
Sanchez watched the ball as it went toward the same area as Judge’s home run. Only no Monster seats were going to catch this one. With Sanchez admiring its majesty, the ball struck the light stanchion, dwarfed even Judge’s blast and landed 479 feet away on Lansdowne Street. It was the longest home run of his career and the longest hit at Fenway during the StatCast Era.
Sanchez held up his bat. And
then he simply dropped it.
Except for some Yankees cheers, yes, it was quiet enough in Fenway to hear a bat drop.
Final: Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
“Everyone knows Judge has way more power than me,” Sanchez said. “But a homer is a homer.”
With Alex Cora switching to starter Nathan Eovaldi in Game 3 Monday night, the best-of-five series is tied at one heading to “New York, New York.” In case you didn’t hear, Judge was blaring Sinatra’s classic from his mini-boombox late Saturday night as he passed the Red Sox’ clubhouse and made his way toward the team bus. The song is played at Yankee Stadium after wins. This was either a great troll job by Judge, worthy of every living member of the rivalry to engage in steel-cage match.
Or it was nothing. The Red Sox manager was leaning toward the later.
“You’ve got to ask him if it was something for us, but I doubt it,” Cora said.
“It’s a good song,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Aaron’s one of our resident deejays, so he’s got a pretty extensive playlist. We like to hear that song sometimes when we win a big game. I saw (the video). I think it’s fun. It’s something to talk about. But I think it’s just a good-natured whatever.”
Asked what his reaction would be if a Red Sox player blared “Sweet Caroline” past the Yankee clubhouse, Boone said. “I like that song too actually. Whatever. Both teams are really good, have a lot of respect for each other. I’ll just leave it at that.”
These are the days to make a pinstripe mountain out of a molehill, of course. When reliever Ryan Brasier yelled at Sanchez, who had stepped out of the box twice in the fifth inning, to get back in there and hit, well, you would have thought it was an invitation to Armageddon.
What rivalry conspirators really should look for is a plaque honoring Price in Monument Park. He has been the Yankees MVP this year. Just kidding. He has allowed 11 home runs by the Yankees in 2018. No team has hit more off a pitcher in the last decade. That’s not a joke.
And now one must wonder Cora would dare start him again this October. Price only got five outs. It got messy in the second. Sanchez has seven hits in 14 career at-bats against Price. Six are home runs. He drove a Price cutter into the second row of the Monster Seats. With two outs, he walked Gleyber Torres and Brett Gardner and Andrew McCutcheon’s RBI single was enough for Cora. He had to get Price out of there before Judge hit his next pitch to New Hampshire.
Price left after only 42 pitches with Fenway boos ringing in his ears.
Asked before Game 2 about his post-season woes, Price said, “I can’t really put my finger on it.”
Others can. As a starting pitcher, he stinks in October.
“My confidence isn’t down,” Price said. “I’m looking forward to getting another opportunity.”
An opportunity Red Sox fans aren’t looking forward to. He is 0-9 in 10 post season starts with a 6.03 earned run average. He does have a pair of relief wins. Here’s a “wow” stat: Seventy major league pitchers have had 10 or more postseason starts. Price is the only one without a victory.
With Rick Porcello pitching out of the bullpen in Game 1, Cora announced Sunday he’ll move him to Game 4 and turn to former Yankee Eovaldi to face Luis Severino in Game 3. Eovaldi’s rested. He also had a 1.93 ERA and allowed only one home run in four starts against New York this season.
The should mean plenty, but J.A. Happ was terrific against the Red Sox this season and he got lit up for five runs in two innings in Game 1. Conversely, Masahiro Tanaka struggled against Boston and allowed only a run in five strong innings in Game 2. So who knows?
What we do know is the Yankees are 7-0 at home in the post-season the past two autumns.
“They swept the Astros there last year,” said Cora, Houston’s bench-coach in 2017. “It’s a tough place to play. That place was alive. We played four-hour games and from the get-go it was loud.”
That doesn’t mean they are unbeatable in the Bronx. The sporting world watched as the Red Sox erased a 3-0 series deficit in 2004 that culminated with unforgettable Game 6 and 7 victories at Yankee Stadium. Then again, that was 2004.
Two matters must make the Red Sox worry if they played their last game at Fenway.
One is the Yankee bullpen has allowed one run in 10 innings.
The other is the Yankee power of Judge, who has three homers in three postseason games. And Stanton. And Sanchez, who had been derided for his catching and his .183 batting average during an injury riddled season. Boom! Just like that in Game 3 he joined Yogi Berra as the only catcher in Yankee history to have two homers in a post season.
Cue “New York, New York,” Aaron.