Yankees erase any doubt with two blowout wins over Red Sox
Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, July 17, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Those among us old enough to remember Friday night can recall a time of fear and uncertainty in corners of Yankees Universe — with some nervous fans growing concerned that the magic might be gone after five losses in six games.
Um, no.
Turns out the 2022 Yankees are who we thought they were, a baseball machine set to keep rolling into October, when their final grade will be recorded.
When making such a statement, why leave any doubt?
On Sunday, they demolished the Red Sox, 13-2, before a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium, less than 24 hours after they demolished the Red Sox, 14-1, before a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium.
How bad did things get for Boston?
Slumping Joey Gallo entered Sunday’s game in place of Aaron Judge in the seventh inning and promptly hit a two-run home run to cap the scoring.
The Yankees are 64-28 at the All-Star break and are back to keeping historians busy keeping track of their winning pace. The rest of the AL East is back to being an afterthought.
“It’s been a little bit of a rough week, obviously,” manager Aaron Boone said, “and to answer last night and today with two pretty emphatic victories, you want to roll into the break feeling good . . . Good to see the guys really finish off a strong, strong half.”
Can Gerrit Cole be trusted in a big spot? We will see for sure in October, but on this day in mid-July, he allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, walking no one and striking out 12.
He accomplished this despite spending stretches in the dugout during Yankees at-bats that were so long, he could have taken up macramé or learned a foreign language.
(In fact, Cole said, he spent his time doing squats to stay loose.)
Cole also did not allow a hit to his Boston nemesis, Rafael Devers. In Devers’ first at-bat, Cole threw inside at knee level and Devers fell to the ground face-first. He then struck out on three consecutive pitches.
In his last two starts, Cole has allowed two runs and eight hits in 14 innings, striking out 23 and walking one.
So at the moment it appears Game 1 of the playoffs will be in good hands.
Matt Carpenter did not hit a home run for a change, but he did hit a two-run double and drive in three runs. Judge did not hit a home run, either, but he was 2-for-3 with a lineout and was hit by a pitch.
Tim Locastro did hit a home run and went 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, validating Boone’s decision to give Giancarlo Stanton a day off heading to the break.
Before the game, Boone told Stanton to be ready in case of a big spot coming up “around 3 o’clock.”
The third inning came along around 3 o’clock, so it was a little early to think about inserting Stanton. Shortly thereafter, the Yankees scored eight runs in the fourth.
The Red Sox used eight relievers after starter Chris Sale suffered a fractured pinkie on his left (throwing) hand when Aaron Hicks hit him with a line drive in the first inning.
On a day when everything was coming up Yankees, the most productive Red Sox player was Jeter Downs, who is named for Derek Jeter and appropriately hit his first major league home run — a two-run shot to left — at Jeter’s old office. Downs, who picked up his first major-league hit against the Yankees on July 9 and entered the day hitting .136, also doubled.
Even if the Yankees had lost seven of eight heading into the break, they would have been just fine in the big picture. But this was way more fun.
“Obviously, it’s pretty big, it’s pretty cool,” Cole said. “But we have bigger goals and we have a lot more baseball to play, so we’re trying to keep it in perspective in that regard.”
Boone said before the game that he plans to watch his players from afar in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
“I’ll be tuning in with a spatula and some board shorts on,” he said.
In other words, the manager has a mini-vacation coming to him, and some dad grilling is in his near future. The burgers will taste extra good this year.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
