Boston Red Sox: 3 thoughts on a rivalry renewed vs New York Yankees
By Brian Foisy
Splitting the series…nothing, something, or everything?
As was previously said, Boston Red Sox fans did not expect much from this series coming into it. It’s possible the team felt the same way, after Xander Bogaerts comments on Sunday night…
"“I don’t think anyone would have bet that we would have split it after the first two” – Xander Bogaerts"
The Red Sox on Thursday and Friday versus Saturday and Sunday played like two different baseball teams.
It’s pretty hard to beat this Yankee team with the pitching staff from the Woo Sox, with Connor Seabold and Josh Winckowski seeming like the moment was two big for them. The defense for the Red Sox also seemed out of sorts in the first two games. That poor performance will be forever immortalized by the video of Alex Verdugo waving off the other outfielders just before losing track of the ball.
The defense seemed overwhelmed by the power of home run hitters like Judge and Stanton, but also by the small ball tactics the Yankees were employing.
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The tides turned in wins on Saturday and Sunday, where the Red Sox began playing like the Yankees. Alex Verdugo was able to erase the memory of his embarrassing error from the night before into a clutch walk-off RBI in extra-innings.
The Red Sox were also able to put a few cracks in the juggernaut that is this year’s Yankee bullpen. Knocking around Clay Holmes on Saturday night and then getting in the head of old-man Aroldis Chapman on Sunday night.
Even though Red Sox Twitter now believes it’s only a matter of time before the 14 game difference between Boston and New York is erased and the Sox can grab the one-seed in the division, I’m hesitant to go that far yet. The Red Sox were abysmal at the start of the series, and even though Games 3 and 4 were fun they’ve shown throughout the season that they’re not great at being a consistent winning team.
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But if the Red Sox can build off of this momentum (knowing that they’re one of the few teams to overwhelm the Yankees this season) and also continue to bring back guys off the IL then they should be able to make up some ground in the standings.
Continuing on the topic of injuries, though, the Game 3 and 4 wins do make you wonder what a full-strength Sox team (with Eovaldi and Sale starting in place of Winckowski and Seabold) would have done in this series.
At the moment, I’ll say this series win definitely means something. It has the potential, though, to become the turning point for the Red Sox and the dynamic between these two teams, which would mean everything.