Yankees 4, Red Sox 1

 

No, no, no, this is not the result I wanted! This is THE crucial series of the entire season, the one that will probably determine who will make the playoffs and who will be watching the games on tv thinking, "Wait 'til next year." It's only the first game of this three-game weekend series and we can still salvage things, but this is NOT the way I wanted to start.

Giolito had a pretty good outing, striking out six over 5⅔ innings, but he gave up two runs and the Sox didn't support him with any hitting - Duran, Story, Lowe, and Yoshida all went 0-4 at the plate and Boston didn't even get their first of two hits all game until a Nick Eaton homer in the seventh.

The Yankees now have a 1½ game lead over Boston in the AL East, and of course Toronto and Seattle both won last night. The Jays lead the Sox by 4½-games and the Mariners are only one game back in the Wild Card standings. 

We go at it again this afternoon (goddamnit, the same time as the Georgia-Tennessee football game) with Brian Bello (11-6, 3.12) starting for the Sox against the Yanks' Max Fried (16-5. 3.02). This will be the third matchup of these two pitchers this season, and Bello has won both, a 1-0 thriller back on August 22 and a 2-0 nail-biter last June. 

Let's keep that streak going today, guys.