Chowder and Champions
Fansided

Boston Red Sox: The damage has been done in the AL East

By Dylan Woods

BOSTON, MA - AUGUST 06: Aaron Hicks #31 of the New York Yankees looks on in the tenth inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on August 6, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - AUGUST 06: Aaron Hicks #31 of the New York Yankees looks on in the tenth inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on August 6, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Coming into a weekend series against the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox had a great chance to separate themselves from their AL East rival. They couldn’t have done a better job if they tried.

Just when you thought the Yankees were out, the Boston Red Sox pushed them even further away.

After a 4-game sweep, a true demolition, the Red Sox have ripped out the Yankees hearts, shattered their souls, and it couldn’t have been more enjoyable to watch.

It all started on Thursday, when Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks put New York up 4-0 in the first two innings.  Just like that, Fenway Park went radio silent. It didn’t last long. The offense exploded for 8 runs in the fourth inning to take a 10-4 lead. The Red Sox went on to win 15-4, behind 3 home runs from Steve Pearce and a staggering 19 hits.

More from Chowder and Champions

Then, over the next two days, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi shut down the entire Yankee lineup. The Red Sox took both games by a score of 4-1, and had one more game to go for a four game sweep, something they had only done once this millennium (2015).

On Sunday night, with everyone watching on national television, the Red Sox put the perfect ending on a magical series. The game stayed tied for nearly 5 innings, until Mookie Betts put one in the Monster seats for a 1-0 lead. However, the Yankees capitalized on a few mistakes in the 7th, rallying for 4 runs. I guess they needed one game, one win to salvage what had been a forgettable series. Get out of there 7.5 back in the division, get hot in August, and you still have 6 more games against the Red Sox.

Not so fast. The Boston Red Sox weren’t quite done. Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded with two outs for JD Martinez, who ripped a single into center to score two. Then, Xander Bogaerts grounded softly to third, but the throw to first was soft as well. Just soft enough that Greg Bird was unable to field it cleanly. Jackie Bradley scores. Tie game. Just when you thought the Red Sox were out, they pull you back in.

Of course, in the bottom of the 10th, Andrew Benintendi delivered the game-winning hit. Yankees fans were already down on the floor in disbelief, all that was left was the final kick, the final punch to confirm the AL East king. It’s a little team from Boston, some like to call them the Red Sox.

Utter domination

Just to put things into perspective a little more, here are some numbers from this weekend’s series. Just in case you were still wondering who won.

The Yankees had only one more hit (20) in the entire series than the Red Sox had in the first game. The Red Sox had 42 hits in total.

The Yankees led for just 6 innings of the entire series. A total of 37 innings were played.

In the series, the Yankees went 4 for 20 (.200) with RISP. They never even got such an at bat in the game Rick Porcello pitched. The Red Sox went 16 for 43 (.372).

Boston Red Sox need Rick Porcello to emulate his recent dominance. light. Related Story

Over the entire series, the Red Sox had a total attendance of 149,077 people. The Yankees, the team with 27 World Series titles, didn’t have one single fan in attendance.

The Red Sox pitchers had a cumulative ERA of 2.43. The Yankees pitchers, they must have just had a rough few days, combined for an ERA of 6.57.

Aroldis Chapman blew his 3rd save against the Boston Red Sox. In his career, he is now 0-2 against Boston with a 6.06 ERA and 15 walks in 16.1 innings. Only one team, the Houston Astros, has numbers that good against Chapman.

Andrew Benintendi hit the walk-off single in the 10th inning, you know, the one that won the game after the Red Sox were down 4-1 in the 9th inning. In 39 career games, he is now 44 for 150 (.293) with 6 HR and 27 RBI against the Yankees. Talk about clutch.

Next. Boston Red Sox sink Yankees in dramatic fashion: 3 defining moments. dark

I could go on, really I could, but I think we all get the point. The Red Sox are better than the Yankees. The AL East “race” will be a cakewalk the rest of the way. Have fun in Oakland for the Wild Card Game, Yankees, if you even get that far.

The real champs have some more work to do.

Home/Boston Red Sox