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I hereby proclaim the Yankees fun again. Fresh off a thrilling victory in game one, the Bombers pummeled the Red Sox on Wednesday night. The team received a strong pitching performance from the staff ace, saw plenty of firepower from the lineup, and a top prospect debuted. The 10-1 victory grades out as an A+ in my books.
Is Luis Severino back? He might be back. Sevy started things off with a wild first inning, walking the first batter he saw on four pitches. He settled down, however, retired eight batters in a row through the third inning.
One of two speed bumps Severino ran into came in the fifth inning. Eduardo Nunez doubled to lead things off, and then promptly scored on a Sandy Leon RBI single. That made it a 4-1 ballgame. It was easy to worry if things would unravel for Sevy, but a fly out (Jackie Bradley Jr.), a strikeout (Mookie Betts), and a groundout (Andrew Benintendi) later, and he escaped the inning.
Things got a little dicey in the sixth and seventh innings, but Severino refused to break. Miguel Andujar gave him a hand making a terrific over the shoulder catch in foul territory in the sixth, but give credit to Sevy. He was outstanding, finishing the night with a vicious breaking ball to freeze Betts in his tracks.
Severino finished the night having allowed one run on six hits, walking one, and striking out six. He forced 12 swinging strikes, something he struggled with during his second half slump. It’s too early to say he’s totally back, but goodness, imagine that. An effective Severino going into the postseason would be huge.
On the other hand, David Price is a good pitcher. He’s having quite a nice season, with an especially impressive second half. At the same time, he has no answer whatsoever for the Yankees. The Bombers had his number once again, scoring six runs in 5.1 innings off the veteran southpaw.
Like Severino, Price was wild in first inning, walking the first batter on four pitches. Price also worked out of trouble, just like Severino did. That’s where the similarities end, however, as the left-hander fell apart shortly thereafter. The second inning contained most of the fireworks.
An Andujar solo homer to right field put the Yankees on the board. Gary Sanchez, who strayed very far away from the on-deck circle ahead of his plate appearance, then worked a walk. A single (Luke Voit) and a walk (Andrew McCutchen) loaded the bases for the man of the hour, Aaron Judge. The right fielder struck a groundball right at Nunez who whiffed on the play — the ball went right through his legs and into the outfield — allowing two runs to score. Ah, yes, the Yankees know all about Nunez errors.
The Yankees weren’t done, though. More specifically, Voit wasn’t done. He launched a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the fourth. Then he followed with a two-run dinger in the sixth, driving Price from the game in the process. It’s incredible that the Yankees got him for Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos. Never doubt Ninja Brian Cashman, I suppose.
The Bombers tacked on when Aaron Hicks hit an RBI triple off Joe Kelly, plating McCutchen and Judge. By the time the sixth inning wrapped up, the Yankees had an 8-1 lead. Price and the Red Sox bullpen make for a winning combination.
As for the leftovers, Jonathan Holder tossed a scoreless eighth. The Yankees plated two more insurance runs in the bottom of the frame, with Hicks and Greg Bird doing the honors. Then Justus Sheffield made his major league debut in the ninth. Sheffield battled control, loading the bases with one out for Betts. The MVP candidate flirted with a grand slam, but ultimately banged into a double play to end the game.
The series finale takes place tomorrow night, with Eduardo Rodriguez drawing Masahiro Tanaka. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM, and there are tickets still available. You can purchase them through StubHub by clicking here.