And just like that it is game time here inside Boston’s
historic Fenway Park as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox continue
the 2018 American League Division Series. In the second game of this best-of-five
game series the Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka out to the mound to face off
with David Price for the Red Sox. The game will be played at 8:15 pm ET inside
Fenway Park and can be seen on TBS. You can also follow along with the game on
WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman all postseason long.
Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on
Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the New York Yankees
all postseason long. Enjoy the game, head back to the Bronx with a victory, and
go Yankees!!
Masahiro Tanaka wants Red Sox blood, and he is going to have
all he can handle tonight inside Fenway Park. Do these stats matter tonight?
Probably not, especially given how much rest the Japanese-born right-hander
will have tonight. Enjoy!
All stats and imagery credit go to ESPN and Baseball
Reference.
David Price has to have a mental block built up when facing
the New York Yankees by now. If he doesn’t, he should anyway. Price has
officially become his own worst enemy against New York, adding in the playoff
atmosphere and all the bright lights that the postseason brings, and this may be
a fun game for the Yankees offense and fanbase alike.
All stats and imagery credit go to ESPN and Baseball
Reference.
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will continue
the American League Division Series tonight inside historic Fenway Park with
the second game of this best-of-five series. In the start tonight the Yankees
will send Masahiro Tanaka out to the mound to face off with David Price for the
Red Sox. Tanaka is out for Red Sox blood while Price is just merely looking to
survive. It should be a fun one, so let’s get to it here in Boston.
Tanaka struggled in each of his last two starts before the
end of the season, but tonight the right-hander heads into Fenway Park on extra
rest. Tanaka gave up eight runs in eight innings pitched combined in his last
two starts to post an ugly 9.00 ERA. Tanaka has been a much better pitcher in
the postseason though boasting a career 1.44 ERA in four career playoff starts.
Price was great in the second half of the 2018 season
posting a 6-1 record with a 2.25 ERA in 11 starts after the All-Star Break. The
one blip on the radar? A start against the Yankees on September 19 inside
Yankee Stadium that saw the left-hander allow six runs in 5.1 IP of work. Price
also pitched against the Yankees on August 5th inside Fenway Park
and allowed two runs in six innings of work in a no-decision. Price has a
career 5.03 ERA in the postseason.
The game will be played at 8:15 pm ET inside Fenway Park and
can be seen on TBS. You can also follow along with the game on WFAN with John
Sterling and Suzyn Waldman all postseason long.
Good morning Yankees family and welcome back to the blog. How
much Fortnite do you think David Price played since Wednesday, just on the off chance
that his carpal tunnel might miraculously return and keep him from making the
start tonight in Game Two of the ALDS? Asking for a friend.
And baby, I love you. I love you with all my heart. I always
have, and I always will.
The New York Yankees made the postseason once again in 2007 extending the team's consecutive streak of making the playoffs to 13 straight seasons as they drew the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. On this day in 2007 the Yankees and Indians played in Game 2 of the ALDS at Jacobs Field in a game that the Yankees had in hand before the eight inning. Joba Chamberlain came in to try and hold the lead and hand the ball to Mariano Rivera but a rare infestation of insects, or midges, appeared and took over the pitchers mound and the field. Joba threw a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score in Joba's first blown save of the season.
Also on this day in 2005 the Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi won the American League Comeback Player of the Year award. Ken Griffey Jr. won the award for the National League in the first time that the award was given out by the fans vote on MLB.com. Giambi finished the season with a .271 average with 32 home runs and 87 RBI.
Also on this day in 1995 Bernie Williams set one of his many records in postseason history as he became the first player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same postseason game. The Mariners fan who caught the eight inning blast was unaware of the milestone and foolishly threw the ball back onto the field.
Finally on this day in 1985 the Yankees Phil Niekro became the 18th and oldest player in major league history to win 300 games when he shut out the Toronto Blue Jays on the final game of the season. Niekro was 46 years old and 188 days and would ultimately finish with 318 victories.
And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between
the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The American League Division
Series officially begins tonight. In the opener of the best-of-five series the
Yankees will send JA Happ to the mound to face off with the Red Sox ace, Chris
Sale. The game will be played at 7:32 pm ET (only in Boston could see such a
weird start time, but okay) and can be seen on TBS. You can also follow along
on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.
Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on
Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the New York Yankees
for the remainder of the postseason. Enjoy the game, get to Sale early in the
first, and go Yankees!!
JA Happ was held back from the AL Wild Card Game
specifically to pitch against the Boston Red Sox twice in a potential five-game
series. Was that a wise choice? History would seem to indicate that it was, but
will it mean anything in October? Stay tuned…
All stats and imagery credit go to ESPN and Baseball
Reference.
What have the New York Yankees done against tonight’s Boston
starter, Chris Sale, throughout their careers? And does it mean anything for
tonight? Only one way to find out, stay tuned…
All stats and imagery credit go to ESPN and Baseball
Reference.
I started a trend last offseason with my “Why I am Not
Afraid of the (fill in the blank team name)” posts and that is a trend that I will
continue this postseason as well. I beat a dead horse telling you why the
Oakland Athletics did not scare me as long as the Wild Card Game was played in
the Bronx and now I am back to tell you why, with all due respect of course to
a team that won 108 games this season, the Boston Red Sox don’t scare me either.
The Boston Red Sox are a great team, don’t get me wrong, but
so are the New York Yankees. Both teams are young, hungry and aggressive, but
there are a few distinct differences that should, and ultimately will in my
opinion, decide the winner of this short, five-game series. Pitching, pitching,
and pitching.
The Boston Red Sox have a terrible bullpen. Let’s call a
spade a spade. Even Jared Carrabis, the biggest douche bag homer that
covers the Red Sox would say so. The Yankees, nine times out of ten anyway, do
not. In fact, the Yankees bullpen is a strength that can put up six-or-seven
innings worth of zeroes on any given night when they are on. The Yankees offense
can, and has for that matter, feast off that bullpen if given the chance. That’s
not to say that Boston and their prolific offense couldn’t do the same against
the Yankees, because they can, and they have, but (homer alert? Maybe?) I
personally trust the Yankees bullpen a lot more than I would trust Boston’s,
whether I was a Yankees fan or not.
But what about the starters? On paper and without looking at
the stats I would imagine that Baseball Reference would tell you that Boston
has a better starting staff. Good for them, and good for the paper (digital or
otherwise) that it’s written on. 162 games for nothing. I said it before the
postseason began and I will say it again. Throw those stats out the window,
this is October. Chris Sale has not faired well in the postseason, albeit in
two ALDS appearances that both resulted in a loss, and David Price has probably
been playing Fortnite all night long hoping that his carpal tunnel would return
so that he wouldn’t have to pitch against the Yankees on Saturday night. It
goes beyond the stats at this point, it has to be mental by now. Especially for
Price. The bright lights begin to shine, you try to do a little too much, you
make one mistake and boom, the game is blown open. Rick Porcello inside Yankee
Stadium doesn’t worry me and having JA Happ pitching twice in this series gives
me all the confidence that I need. Happ may not walk away with two victories,
but I guarantee he will give the Yankees two opportunities to win before it is
all said and done. Masahiro Tanaka should keep the Yankees in the game and give
them a shot to win and so should the savvy veteran, CC Sabathia, at home in the
Bronx. Oh, and not to mention that the Yankees still have their ace in reserves
for Game Four in the Bronx regardless of what happens in Boston.
Both teams have great offenses and both teams can pitch
well, you don’t win 100+ games in a season if you don’t, but I truly, truly
think that the Red Sox are going to play with everything to lose, while the
Yankees will play with everything to gain. When you play loose, you tend to
win. When you play timidly or cautious, you make mistakes. It’s a fact.
Especially in October. The Yankees got their jitters out of the way on
Wednesday night as Luke Voit, Giancarlo Stanton, and others got their first
playoff games out of the way. Now they can go back to business as usual and
continue on to their path of the franchise’s 28th World Series
Championship.
With all due respect to Boston, your Red Sox don’t scare me
much. Yankees in five is my prediction, and I only say five games because the
Red Sox clinched the division on Yankee Stadium turf, so I would love to end
their season inside Fenway Park.
