Red Sox  vs. Yankees

Eric Grady

May 8th-10th,2018

“Breaking: The Yankees have traded for Marlins Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton.” This was the sound of sports networks across the country. There is one thing they did not say, that they were thinking, “ The Red Sox’s reign on top of the American League East Division is over.” About a month later the Red Sox went into Spring Training with almost the same exact roster that had won 93 games last year and won the AL East Division Title for the second straight year in a row. The Yankees walked into Spring Training with the AL Rookie of the year, Aaron Judge, and NL MVP, Giancarlo Stanton walking side by side. The Red Sox had not added any star power to counter the Yankees blockbuster trade for Giancarlo Stanton. Until…

        “Breaking: The Red Sox sign J.D Martinez to a 5-year deal.” The Red Sox had finally added the Star Power they need to counteract the Yankees blockbuster move. J.D Martinez hit 45 home runs last year between his time in Arizona and Detroit. He also had 104 RBIs ( Runs Batted In) and 29 XBHs (Extra Base Hits). These might just be numbers to you but when JD got traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, the Diamondbacks made a late-season surge, led by JD to the first wild-card spot in the National League Wild Card Game. The Red Sox are hoping for the same production this year.

        Spring Training passed by like a breeze with a minor storyline, that the Red Sox finished Spring Training with the best record in Spring Training baseball. Everyone’s attention was on the Yankee’s star power, still.

        Fast forward to April 10th at Fenway Park and the New York Yankees are arriving for a cold series against the rivaled Red Sox. This would be the first game the revamped rosters play against each other. It was very eventful, but not as much as the second game. In the first game, the Red Sox scored a remarkable 14 runs to the only 1 run runs of the Yankees. JD Martinez hit a 3 RBI triple and Mookie Betts hit a grand slam. This was the start that the red sox were looking for against the Yankees. Game 2 of that series on April 11th started out bad for the Red Sox going down 7-1 going into the 7th inning where the teams got really scrappy. In reaction to an earlier slide by Tyler Austin, of the NY Yankees, where Austin hit Brock Holt with his cleat upwards, Joe Kelly struck Austin with a fastball in the back. Tyler Austin automatically shook off the pain, slammed the bat at the ground and charged the mound at Red Sox bullpen pitcher, Joe Kelly. Both benches cleared, including Bullpens, and the two teams were separated after many punches thrown between Austin and Kelly. The game would end in a scrappy 10-7 win for the New York Yankees. They would play there third and final game at Fenway for the series on April 12th,2018. The Red Sox would win 6-3 in a great performance by Red Sox pitcher, Rick Porcello.

        “Welcome to Yankee Stadium for the second series of many this year between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.” This was said by the PA announcer on May 8th, 2018. Both teams came into this series neck and neck with each other in the standings, with the Red Sox up by 1 game with a 25-9 record. The Yankees had a 24-10 record coming into the first game. They had also won 15 out of there last 16 games and were lighting up the rest of the league. Many different analysts expected different things from this series. Some expected another brawl because of the tension between these two clubs and also the history between these two clubs. Some expected a very tight series where one team would win 3-2 in one game and the other game the other team would win 2-1. These are a couple of the thoughts analysts had on what this series might be like for the teams. For the standings, especially so early in the season, this has big implications. Since the Yankees have won 15 out of 16 of their last games,  the Yankees have a chance to take over the AL League East Division.

        This series is a big series of 3 games, out of the 19 they will play head to head this season. If this is not the most crucial series yet this season for both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, it is close to it because of their history, their positions in the standings and most of all because of there star power.