A few days ago, I questioned whether the New York Yankees would be able to put the Red Sox out of their misery. They came thisclose to breaking the hearts of their archrivals, even with their B-lineups and no CC Sabathia.
The only reason the Red Sox were able to escape from New York with a victory in the nightcap of yesterday’s doubleheader is because Scott Proctor was pitching the top of the 14th inning. Rest assured, if the Yankees and Red Sox meet again in the American League Championship Series, Proctor will be nowhere near the Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park mounds.
But I was impressed by the way the Yankees kids stepped up to help push the Red Sox towards the edge of the cliff. They got some great defense from Austin Romine and more hits from Jesus Montero, who is showing that he will be ready to join the big club on a full-time basis next year. And I was truly shocked that AJ Burnett was the one to put the Red Sox on the brink of disaster. He finally came up with that dominating performance versus Boston that we’ve waited nearly three full years to see, although I couldn’t help but wonder if Burnett was really that good or the Red Sox were really that bad.
The Yankees played hard all weekend, but they didn’t put their A-lineups out there for every game. Joe Girardi did a very good job of mixing veterans and rookie call-ups in both games of the doubleheader, but resisted the temptation to bring either Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez off the bench in the second game when he had chances to win. I think it was a wise move on Girardi’s part since he obviously didn’t want either player to get hurt after sitting on the bench for so long. But it also showed that he wasn’t going to take any risks for a win that didn’t mean much to his team, even though the Yankees had their foot on the throat of the Red Sox.
The only reason the Red Sox were able to escape from New York with a victory in the nightcap of yesterday’s doubleheader is because Scott Proctor was pitching the top of the 14th inning. Rest assured, if the Yankees and Red Sox meet again in the American League Championship Series, Proctor will be nowhere near the Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park mounds.
But I was impressed by the way the Yankees kids stepped up to help push the Red Sox towards the edge of the cliff. They got some great defense from Austin Romine and more hits from Jesus Montero, who is showing that he will be ready to join the big club on a full-time basis next year. And I was truly shocked that AJ Burnett was the one to put the Red Sox on the brink of disaster. He finally came up with that dominating performance versus Boston that we’ve waited nearly three full years to see, although I couldn’t help but wonder if Burnett was really that good or the Red Sox were really that bad.
The Yankees played hard all weekend, but they didn’t put their A-lineups out there for every game. Joe Girardi did a very good job of mixing veterans and rookie call-ups in both games of the doubleheader, but resisted the temptation to bring either Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez off the bench in the second game when he had chances to win. I think it was a wise move on Girardi’s part since he obviously didn’t want either player to get hurt after sitting on the bench for so long. But it also showed that he wasn’t going to take any risks for a win that didn’t mean much to his team, even though the Yankees had their foot on the throat of the Red Sox.
No comments:
Post a Comment