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By James Peacock

Well, the Yankees scored five runs last night against Boston. Since Aaron Judge went down, that amount would feel like the pretext to a highly successful evening. Unfortunately, four of those five runs came after the Red Sox had plated 13 of their own, in what ended up being a 15-5 beatdown up in Beantown.

Where to begin. Domingo German clearly didn’t have it from the start, and was likely left in the game too long; the amount of extra base hits that he surrendered must be some kind of record… Justin Turner of the Sox is in the kind of zone that forces one to harken back to his glory days in a Dodgers uniform https://youtube.com/shorts/6hFISG9UBhw?feature=share. The Yankees defense was downright atrocious. I had a feeling that the Yanks would have their hands full in game one, but I did not expect THAT.

Bottom line, the Yankees were downright manhandled by a Red Sox team that simply looks like a better than the Bombers do (without Judge). Heck, maybe even with Judge. O.K. that’s probably a bit too reactionary, but it’s hard to fight the feeling of despair that fans are feeling right now.

Judge received a plasma injection in the toe that he injured against the Dodgers, which prompted Aaron Boone to give a fairly cryptic analysis of his timetable for a return:

“I think he could be back in a week. I think he could be back in four. I don’t know. We have to get to a point where we’re starting to move the ball from a physical activity and baseball standpoint. Hopefully, the latest PRP is part of speeding that process up” (ESPN)

Do with that what you will. Perhaps luckily for the Yanks, tonight’s game two got postponed, meaning that there will be a day-night doubleheader tomorrow up in Fenway.

By James Peacock

For the second time in two weeks, the greatest rivalry in baseball will renewed when the Yanks and the Sox again come to blows, this time up in Boston. The Bombers come in with a 39-30 record, only good enough for third place in the ever-stacked AL East. The Red Sox, in last place in the East, bring in a 34-35 record. Domingo German will get the ball in game one, followed by Clarke Schmidt and Luis Severino. The Yankee lineup will face Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and, our old friend, James Paxton.

To say that the offense has struggled since Aaron Judge went down would be a massive understatement. They’ve managed to tread water in his absence thanks to superb pitching, particularly from the bullpen, which ranks first in the majors in ERA as a unit. Obviously any offense that loses the AL MVP is going to struggle, but for the Yankees to rank 28th in baseball in team OBP, ahead of only the lowly White Sox and lowlier Royals, is an embarrassment. It’s the same old story for this team, they can hit home runs and win then they do, but their offense has a tendency of becoming anemic when balls are not leaving the yard.

The Red Sox, on the other hand, have an offense that ranks among the league’s best in most categories of importance. Therefore, as was the case last weekend, this series will be a battle of strength against strength. Unlike last weekend, the Yankees will not have Gerrit Cole on the mound in this series, and will need German, Schmidt and Severino, all of whom have been inconsistent this season, to show up. It would also be helpful if Anthony Rizzo broke out of the worst slump of his career by poking a couple doubles off the green monster.

Who is going to step up? We shall see.