Game Day: Monday, June 29th

95 and humid, no AC, pot of hot coffee on the stove.  Nice breeze in the shade.  Let's get this week started.

It's the end of June in Illinois and this weather is appropriate for large banana spiders and the flying grasshoppers who enjoy summers in the heartland just as much as I do.  

I haven't seen any banana spiders all year.  Are they dying off?  Plenty of Wolf Spiders and Jumpers.  They call them Jumpers because they hop.  

I covered the sweeps in yesterday's "Game Day" post and there were three sweeps over the weekend:  the Rangers, Rays and the Red Sox carry the brooms into the new week.  The Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and Yankees hold the dust pan.  How the momentum helps or hinders each team this week, I'll review next Sunday.

Great win last night for the Red Sox.  To get a four-game sweep in a game like that over your chief rival is really special.  How can the Red Sox possibly justify trading Sonny Gray after that start?

Gray pitched 7.1 innings of shut-out baseball, had a no-hitter working into the eighth, allowed one hit and no earned runs and racked nine strikeouts.  What a game.

Carlos Rodon and the Yankees' bullpen kept it close and in the ninth, the Yanks got to Boston's closer, Aroldis Chapman.  Chapman allowed a pair of runs for the third blown save in his Last5 appearances.  

Here is how it ended:

It's 2-2 into extras and the Yanks score a pair in the top half to make it a 4-2 game into the bottom of the 10th inning.  

It's the bottom of the order for the Red Sox.  Caleb Durbin is the Manfred Runner.  Second baseman Anthony Seiglar at the plate, catcher Connor Wong on-deck and shortstop Tsung Che Cheng in the hole.  

With Yankees' closer, David Bednar, having pitched the ninth for New York, righty Fernando Cruz gets the call out of the Yankees' bullpen. 

Seiglar punches a 2-2 splitter through the right side of the infield and Durbin scores.  4-3 Yankees.  The tying run is on first base.

Red Sox interim manager, Chad Tracy, has Andruw Monestario run for Seiglar and pinch-hits for Wong.  It's the Japanese Macho Man, Masataka Yoshida.  

Yoshida hits the first pitch he sees into the right field gap for a double and it's second and third with no outs.  The Red Sox are a base hit from winning this game.

Red Sox nine-hole hitter, Tsung Che Cheng, puts the ball in the air to right-fielder Cody Bellinger.  It is deep enough to score Monestario from third base.

It's a 4-4 game.  Tie ball game with one out and the winning run on third base.

It's the top of the Red Sox order.  Lefty Jarren Duran at the plate.  Boone sticks with Cruz.  With first base open and one out, Boone's call is to pitch to Duran.  Boone is angling for a strikeout.  Duran makes him pay.

Duran connects on a high fastball for a line-drive base hit to right field and this game is over.  Great bat flip from Duran.  Big celebration on the field.  Red Sox are feeling like a team that is back in contention. 

Is Aaron Boone getting senile?  What's wrong with this guy?

Three lefties in Boone's bullpen last night and he calls the righty Cruz into the game.  All three left-handed hitters, Seiglar, Yoshida and Cheng put the bat on the ball.

So what is Boone thinking?

Boone wants Seiglar to hit.  Calling a lefty likely gets Romy Gonzalez into the game as a pinch-hitter.  Gonzalez is a .300 hitter against left-handed pitchers over his career.  Boone likes Cruz in this spot because Cruz is his best strike-out pitcher and Cruz on the mound keeps Gonzalez on the bench.  

When Seiglar gets a base hit and scores the runner from second, due to the three-batter minimum rule, Cruz must remain in the game to face Yoshida and Cheng.  Yoshida doubles and Cheng drives in the tying run.  

Cruz stays in the game to face Duran.  Again, Boone doesn't want to go to his lefties out of the bullpen because he doesn't want to face Romy Gonzalez.  Duran gets the big hit and Boston wins the game.

I like Boone's call with Cruz in the 10th but I think walking Duran was the right move.  That was the mistake last night.  Walking Duran sets up the double play and Cruz would have been righty righty on Rafaela.  

Credit to Boston's lefty bats:  Seiglar, Yoshida, Cheng and Duran.  They put the bat on the ball and were clutch last night.  Credit to Romy Gonzalez.  He helps to win this game for Boston without ever getting off the bench.  

Boone has shown a lack of confidence in his left-handed relievers all season.  Yankees' GM Brian Cashman needs to replace Boone or he needs to get his manager a pair of left-handed relievers to replace Ryan Yarbrough and Tim Hill.  There aren't many better options on the trade market.  Ryan Weathers to the bullpen is likely the answer.    

It was a great game last night and a great win for the Red Sox.  

Bat flip.  That was an all-time classic.  

That's it for Game Day for Monday, June 29th.  Two more days in June.  I'm excited to see how the month wraps up.  

I'll have a pick up and posted later this afternoon.  Stay tuned.