The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees, 8-2-2020, Free MLB Picks And Predictions

Boston Red Sox (3-6) @ New York Yankees (6-1)

MLB Baseball: Sunday, 8-2-2020 @ 7:07 PM (Yankee Stadium)

Austin Brice (RHP, 0-0, 7.71 ERA, 5Ks) vs. James Paxton (LHP,0-1, 27.00 ERA, 1K)

I could get use to this winning roll that the New York Yankees are on. Last night, the Yanks captured their 5th straight win of the 2020 and it had some significance the club’s history.

The Yanks are continuing to lean on the long ball, powering their best start to a season since 2003. The Saturday night win was yet again aided by a Aaron Judge homer. He was not the only one to connect via the homer for a career-high fourth consecutive game, Gio Urshela launched his first career grand slam as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 5-2. The Saturday evening at Yankee Stadium was jam packed with highlight reel shots by the Bronx Bombers.

Judge cracked a 455-foot, first-inning blast to the left-field bleachers and Urshela cleared the bases an inning later, depositing a drive onto the netting that covers Monument Park. Both blasts came off right-hander Zack Godley, that built a healthy cushion as the Yanks rolled to their fifth straight win and sixth victory in seven games.

Bryan Hoch reported that Gio Urshela said, “That was my first grand slam of my career, I was so excited and so happy to get those four runs for the team….” Urshela also stated that he was, “….very, very happy to be back this year with the Yankees. I’m trying to do better this year, trying to keep that confidence when I’m playing.”

As it was another “Judgement Day” in the Bronx for the Yankees, the pinstriped right fielder became the first Yankee to homer in four straight games since Cameron Maybin, who accomplished the feat last June. Each of the Yankees’ last 17 runs have come via the long ball, and the Bombers have gone deep in each of their first seven games of a season for the fifth time in franchise history and the first time since 2001.

All I could, the Yanks are surely making this shorten season work for them. As the team will try to go all the way this season, I just hope the season remains in their season, and Yankee fans can once again see their ballclub hoist a World Series trophy.

If I had to explain this club to someone who doesn’t know baseball, I don’t think I could do better than Mike Tauchman. The Yankees outfielder said it best by stating, “We have a lot of guys that hit a lot of home runs. When we’re at our best, we’re driving in runs, we’re running the bases well, we’re using the whole field….” He also stated that, “…I think when you’re consistently putting pressure on the opposing team’s pitchers, you’re going to get pitches to hit out.” Everything he said was right, and you better believe it because he had his own three hit night that contributed to the Yankee victory over the Red Sox.

Well, the Yanks have always been known for their offensive power and back end of their bullpen, but we have seen their starting rotation hit bumps in the road.

Masahiro Tanaka, who was tabbed with the start in the Saturday night brawl with the Sox said before the game that he felt “excited” to be back on the mound. Reasonable so, I could understand his excitement, due to the fact that he sustained a concussion back on July 4th that came off of Stanton’s bat. I was real glad to see him back on a major league mound, but he didn’t perform the way that I expected him to.

Aaron Boone held Masa to a 51 pitch count to build up his stamina, and well he didn’t progress from the 2019 troubles he had against the Sox.

The right-hander permitted two runs (one earned) and four hits over 2 2/3 innings. Boston broke through against Tanaka in the third inning, as Xander Bogaerts doubled home a run and another run scored on Gleyber Torres’ third error of the season.

If you area die-hard Yankee fan like me, it was not a pretty sight to see, even if you’re watch it on T.V. It was especially hard to watch, because Yankee fans know how dominant Tanaka can be.

After the game, Tanaka spoke through an interpreter and said, ” It’s been since Spring Training where I’ve been in a competitive game, so I think there was some rust there…” As a fan, I respect his honesty and wish him the best going forward. he continued to tell the press that, “…I really didn’t have the pinpoint command that you want, but you know you go into the game with a plan. The plan was to…try to put more force onto the pitches, so in that sense, I think it worked out pretty well.”

As the Yankee manager, Boone said that he noticed that there was extra jump on Tanaka’s fastball, which averaged 92.9 mph and maxed out at 94.3 mph. Last season, Tanaka’s fastball averaged 91.5 mph.

Even though we all know that Tanaka didn’t have his best start on Saturday, Aaron Boone noted some positive aspect to his starter’s performance.

“That’s as good velocity as we’ve seen on his fastball in the last couple of years,” Boone said. “It’s something we noticed in his first bullpen when he was returning. I thought he threw a lot of good fastballs tonight and mixed his other pitches as well. It was another strong, important step for him.”

I hope we can regain Tanaka in his dominant form soon.

As a result of Tanaka poor start, we got to see the debut of Nick Nelson. Nelson had a strong start, as he and the bullpen combined for 6 1/3 scoreless innings. The  Yankees No. 16 prospect became the first Yankee to pitch at least three hitless innings and earn a victory in his Major League debut. The 24-year-old right-hander struck out four — including Tzu-Wei Lin, the first batter he faced — and walked two in a 41-pitch appearance.

“It was really awesome being out there, especially wearing the pinstripes and making my debut at Yankee Stadium,” Nelson said. “As soon as the [bullpen] phone rings, I started getting more nervous. The waiting was killing me.”

“One of the things I’m so excited about is a lot of the young arms that are knocking on the door, and Nelson is one of those,” Boone said. “He was great tonight.”

Hale To Close It Out

Righthander David Hale recorded the last six outs to notch the third save of his Major League career, pitching around a pair of singles.  Hale’s appearance prompted questions about the availability of closer Zack Britton, who last pitched on Thursday against the Orioles.

Tonight’s Pitching

Paxton is aiming to rebound after he recorded only three outs in a 41-pitch game that he played in against the Nats on July 25th. Making his return from back surgery, he permitted three runs and five hits in that 9-2 loss.

On the opposition, Paxton will be countered by Austin Brice. The righty has made 110 Major League appearances, but this will be his first start as this will a bullpen game for the Sox.