Yankees @ Red Sox Game Thread/ 13th- 14th September 2022

Red Sox notebook: Aaron Judge returns to Fenway Park chasing history (and a contract)


By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: September 12, 2022 at 5:07 p.m. | UPDATED: September 12, 2022 at 5:47 p.m.

The Red Sox and Yankees will meet for the last time at Fenway Park this week, and while the Sox are well out of playoff contention, the series remains ripe with storylines.

The biggest is surely Aaron Judge’s chase for Roger Maris’ American League home run record of 61 set in 1961, a record that remains important to a large facet of baseball fans who discount the only three players to ever pass that mark: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

Those three played in the steroid era and have been heavily tied to performance-enhancing drugs, with McGwire admitting to heavy use during the season in which he set the record with 70 homers in 1998, though Bonds later broke that record with 73 in 2001.

Judge will enter Fenway Park on Tuesday with 55 homers, six shy of Maris’ A.L. record that some still consider to be the gold standard in baseball history.

Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent, who held the post from 1989 until 1992, told USA Today that if Judge breaks Maris’ record, he’ll consider it the all-time mark.

“Personally, I think that those records (set by Bonds, McGwire and Sosa) are tainted, and therefore I’m rooting very much for Judge,” Vincent said. “I think he’s absolutely clean. I don’t think there’s any performance-enhancing drug involvement or taint with Judge. And so I think one of the reasons his performance is so illuminating and so compelling is that it’s totally clean.”

Drug testing in baseball didn’t begin until 2004. Since then, Judge’s teammate, Giancarlo Stanton, has the most homers in a single season with 59.

What Judge is doing this year is particularly impressive given that home runs are down across baseball and his 55 tower over the next-closest competitor, Kyle Schwarber, who has hit 37 with the Phillies. Schwarber is also hitting just .215 while Judge is hitting .307.

It’s looking like one of the best seasons in baseball history and comes at a time when Judge is about to hit free agency and should score one of the biggest contracts in baseball history.

There’s been speculation that the Red Sox should pursue Judge, one, because they have a ton of money coming off the books and are desperate for a middle-of-the-order bat to help Rafael Devers, and two, because stealing Judge from the Yankees would be an earth-shattering move in the baseball world.

Of course, Judge has typically been a terrible hitter at Fenway Park.

He enters this series with a lifetime .178 average, .628 OPS and just six home runs in 36 games at the ballpark that opened in 1912.

He’ll face Red Sox starters Nick Pivetta and Brayan Bello in these two games. He has one home run in 12 at-bats against Pivetta and has never faced Bello, the rookie righthander who will be making his first career start against the Yankees.

According to Bovada, Judge is a heavy favorite to hit seven more home runs this year and pass Maris’ mark of 61. It’ll take $100 to win $180 on that bet, and a $100 bet against Judge will pay $140.

This is the second-to-last series between the Sox and Yankees this year. They’ll also play in New York Sept. 22 through Sept. 25, with their final game to be broadcast on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Bogaerts ‘might get’ emotional

Judge isn’t the only pending free agent in this series, as Xander Bogaerts nears what could be the end of his experience in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.

Bogaerts enters the series red-hot and leading the league with a .319 average.

“I can’t lie. Right now I’m extremely focused,” said Bogaerts told WEEI’s radio broadcast after the Sox’ 1-0 win over Baltimore on Sunday. “Right now we have 21 games left, or whatever the calendar says. I’m just being extremely focused, one pitch at a time, trying to swing at strikes. I know it’s coming down to the finish line and obviously, stuff might get a little emotional. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment. Like I said, I feel like I really need to be locked in, really need to be focused. I’m not saying just to get hits, but to focus. I have to be on point I feel if I want to perform good with everything going on.”

Asked if he hopes to be in Boston next year, he said, “Yeah. I do. We’ll see what happens… I just want to enjoy these 20 games as much as possible. As I said, I just need to be extra focused and hopefully, I’m here for a long, long time. But I guess that’s not in my control.”
Odds and ends

The Red Sox made a switch at the back end of their 40-man roster on Monday, when they claimed infielder Yu Chang off waivers from the Rays and designated outfielder Jaylin Davis for assignment. Chang, 27, has hit .216 with four homers in 58 big leagues games for three teams this year…

Former Red Sox pitcher Anthony Varvaro was tragically killed in an automobile accident while driving to a Sept. 11 ceremony on Sunday. Varvaro had a pair of impressive seasons as a reliever for the Braves in 2013 and ’14, but struggled in a brief stint with the Sox in 2015 before retiring to become a Port Authority police officer. He was 37 years old…

Christian Vazquez has been off the Red Sox for more than a month and yet is still their seventh-most valuable player this year, worth two WAR, according to Baseball-Reference…

In his first seven games with the Sox, the 22-year-old Triston Casas is 2-for-21 (.095) with one home run, three walks and eight strikeouts.

RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Steadied Yankees still fierce as they hit Fenway Park for final 2022 appearance
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated September 12, 2022, 10:18 p.m.


The Yankees will arrive at Fenway Park on Tuesday having won six of their last eight games, assuaging fears they were about to pull one of the all-time choke jobs.

Still, what was once a 15½-game lead in the American League East was down to 5½ games with 21 to play following Tampa Bay’s 3-2 loss in Toronto. The Yankees are 21-28 since the All-Star break, which is actually worse than the last-place Red Sox (21-27).

“They’re still in first place,” Sox manager Alex Cora said. “That’s something people forget with all this. I’ve been hearing the Mets are collapsing. They’re not collapsing. It’s just the [Braves] have played better.”


The Yankees had 15 players on the injured list Monday. Among them: Andrew Benintendi, Matt Carpenter, Aroldis Chapman, DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo, and Luis Severino. It’s not the same team the Sox last played a month ago and took two of three from.


“Obviously with the injuries and all that, it’s been tough for them,” Cora said. “The pitching is still good. The lineup is a lot different compared to halfway through the season.”

Then there’s the Aaron Judge issue. He is hitting .307 with a 1.090 OPS and 55 home runs. He has a 1.189 OPS since Aug. 1, with 30 RBIs in 37 games.

Cora has issued only 15 intentional walks this season, none to Judge. Could that change in the remaining six games between the teams?

“We’ll pick and choose. I saw this with [Barry] Bonds. You get caught up with walking guys and the next guy hits a three-run homer,” he said. “[Judge] is locked in right now, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job with him this season.”

Judge has a .904 OPS and three homers against the Sox in 12 games this season. He has a modest .628 OPS in 36 career regular-season games at Fenway Park, with six home runs in 146 at-bats. (He’s 6 for 13 in three postseason appearances, with two homers during the 2018 AL Division Series.)


Since his rookie season in 2016, Sox managers have intentionally walked Judge twice over 78 games, and never at Fenway Park. The last was June 30, 2019.

Cora is rooting for Judge to break the American League home run record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961.

“For the game, it would be great for him to do it. He seems like he’s a great kid and very humble,” Cora said. “He hasn’t gotten caught up in anything, from contract negotiations and the chase for the home run mark.”
Related: Chasing down a batting title is helping Xander Bogaerts deal with the emotions of an uncertain Red Sox future

Nick Pivetta is scheduled to start Tuesday. He has allowed 17 earned runs in 13⅓ innings against the Yankees this season. He will oppose Gerrit Cole, who has faced the Sox three times this season and given up 10 earned runs over 17 innings.
Yu Chang added to roster

The Red Sox claimed 27-year-old infielder Yu Chang off waivers from Tampa Bay. He is expected to be in uniform for Tuesday’s game.

Chang will be joining his fourth team this season. He started out with the Guardians, was traded to the Pirates on May 30, then claimed off waivers by the Rays on July 5.

He has hit .216 with four home runs, 14 RBIs, and a .605 OPS over 58 games. What’s the attraction? Chang is a good defender at all four infield positions and had a .690 OPS in 36 games for the Rays before he was dropped to make room for Wander Franco coming off the injured list.


The move is not related to Trevor Story leaving Sunday’s game at Baltimore with a twisted left ankle.

Outfielder Jaylin Davis was designated for assignment to make room for Chang on the 40-man roster. Davis was 8 for 24 with two RBIs in 12 games for the Sox earlier this season. He has hit .212 in 86 Triple A games this year.

Another move will be needed on Tuesday to open a spot on the 28-man active roster.
Long-term deal

Kacie McDonnell Hosmer and Eric Hosmer welcomed their first child on Sunday, a boy they named Jack. McDonnell Hosmer is a former NESN anchor who now works for Fox Business . . . The Yankees made a roster move ahead of the series. Catcher Jose Trevino was reinstated from the paternity list and infielder Ronald Guzmán was outrighted off the major league roster and assigned to Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Red Sox notebook: Aaron Judge returns to Fenway Park chasing history (and a contract)


By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: September 12, 2022 at 5:07 p.m. | UPDATED: September 12, 2022 at 5:47 p.m.

The Red Sox and Yankees will meet for the last time at Fenway Park this week, and while the Sox are well out of playoff contention, the series remains ripe with storylines.

The biggest is surely Aaron Judge’s chase for Roger Maris’ American League home run record of 61 set in 1961, a record that remains important to a large facet of baseball fans who discount the only three players to ever pass that mark: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

Those three played in the steroid era and have been heavily tied to performance-enhancing drugs, with McGwire admitting to heavy use during the season in which he set the record with 70 homers in 1998, though Bonds later broke that record with 73 in 2001.

Judge will enter Fenway Park on Tuesday with 55 homers, six shy of Maris’ A.L. record that some still consider to be the gold standard in baseball history.

Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent, who held the post from 1989 until 1992, told USA Today that if Judge breaks Maris’ record, he’ll consider it the all-time mark.

“Personally, I think that those records (set by Bonds, McGwire and Sosa) are tainted, and therefore I’m rooting very much for Judge,” Vincent said. “I think he’s absolutely clean. I don’t think there’s any performance-enhancing drug involvement or taint with Judge. And so I think one of the reasons his performance is so illuminating and so compelling is that it’s totally clean.”

Drug testing in baseball didn’t begin until 2004. Since then, Judge’s teammate, Giancarlo Stanton, has the most homers in a single season with 59.

What Judge is doing this year is particularly impressive given that home runs are down across baseball and his 55 tower over the next-closest competitor, Kyle Schwarber, who has hit 37 with the Phillies. Schwarber is also hitting just .215 while Judge is hitting .307.

It’s looking like one of the best seasons in baseball history and comes at a time when Judge is about to hit free agency and should score one of the biggest contracts in baseball history.

There’s been speculation that the Red Sox should pursue Judge, one, because they have a ton of money coming off the books and are desperate for a middle-of-the-order bat to help Rafael Devers, and two, because stealing Judge from the Yankees would be an earth-shattering move in the baseball world.

Of course, Judge has typically been a terrible hitter at Fenway Park.

He enters this series with a lifetime .178 average, .628 OPS and just six home runs in 36 games at the ballpark that opened in 1912.

He’ll face Red Sox starters Nick Pivetta and Brayan Bello in these two games. He has one home run in 12 at-bats against Pivetta and has never faced Bello, the rookie righthander who will be making his first career start against the Yankees.

According to Bovada, Judge is a heavy favorite to hit seven more home runs this year and pass Maris’ mark of 61. It’ll take $100 to win $180 on that bet, and a $100 bet against Judge will pay $140.

This is the second-to-last series between the Sox and Yankees this year. They’ll also play in New York Sept. 22 through Sept. 25, with their final game to be broadcast on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Bogaerts ‘might get’ emotional

Judge isn’t the only pending free agent in this series, as Xander Bogaerts nears what could be the end of his experience in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.

Bogaerts enters the series red-hot and leading the league with a .319 average.

“I can’t lie. Right now I’m extremely focused,” said Bogaerts told WEEI’s radio broadcast after the Sox’ 1-0 win over Baltimore on Sunday. “Right now we have 21 games left, or whatever the calendar says. I’m just being extremely focused, one pitch at a time, trying to swing at strikes. I know it’s coming down to the finish line and obviously, stuff might get a little emotional. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment. Like I said, I feel like I really need to be locked in, really need to be focused. I’m not saying just to get hits, but to focus. I have to be on point I feel if I want to perform good with everything going on.”

Asked if he hopes to be in Boston next year, he said, “Yeah. I do. We’ll see what happens… I just want to enjoy these 20 games as much as possible. As I said, I just need to be extra focused and hopefully, I’m here for a long, long time. But I guess that’s not in my control.”
Odds and ends

The Red Sox made a switch at the back end of their 40-man roster on Monday, when they claimed infielder Yu Chang off waivers from the Rays and designated outfielder Jaylin Davis for assignment. Chang, 27, has hit .216 with four homers in 58 big leagues games for three teams this year…

Former Red Sox pitcher Anthony Varvaro was tragically killed in an automobile accident while driving to a Sept. 11 ceremony on Sunday. Varvaro had a pair of impressive seasons as a reliever for the Braves in 2013 and ’14, but struggled in a brief stint with the Sox in 2015 before retiring to become a Port Authority police officer. He was 37 years old…

Christian Vazquez has been off the Red Sox for more than a month and yet is still their seventh-most valuable player this year, worth two WAR, according to Baseball-Reference…

In his first seven games with the Sox, the 22-year-old Triston Casas is 2-for-21 (.095) with one home run, three walks and eight strikeouts.

Game 142: Yankees at Red Sox lineups and notes
By Andrew Mahoney Globe Staff,Updated September 13, 2022, 9:21 a.m.

After a day off, the Red Sox are back home to host the Yankees at Fenway Park for a pair of games. The Sox will get another day off Thursday and then the homestand will continue when the Kansas City Royals come to town for a three-game series at the end of the week.

The visit does not have the usual buzz, as the Red Sox are three games below .500 and reside in last place in the American League East. But there will be plenty of interest in Aaron Judge. The Yankees slugger is hitting .307 with a 1.090 OPS and 55 home runs. He has a 1.189 OPS since Aug. 1, with 30 RBIs in 37 games.


Nick Pivetta gets the start for Tuesday night’s opener.
Lineups

YANKEES (85-56):


1. Aaron Judge (R) CF
2. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
3. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
4. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B
5. Oswaldo Cabrera (S) RF
6. Miguel Andujar (R) LF
7. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) SS
8. Jose Trevino (R) C
9. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 1B


Pitching: RHP Gerrit Cole (11-7, 3.20 ERA)

RED SOX (69-72):


1. Tommy Pham (R) LF
2. Alex Verdugo (L) RF
3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
5. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
6. Christian Arroyo (R) 2B
7. Triston Casas (L) 1B
8. Enrique Hernandez (R) CF
9. Reese McGuire (L) C


Pitching: RHP Nick Pivetta (9-11, 4.29 ERA)

Time: 7:10 p.m.


TV, radio: NESN, TBS, WEEI-FM 93.7

Yankees vs. Pivetta: Josh Donaldson 5-23, Marwin Gonzalez 1-6, Aaron Hicks 0-2, Kyle Higashioka 0-2, Aaron Judge 3-8, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 1-6, Giancarlo Stanton 8-20, Gleyber Torres 0-5, Jose Trevino 2-4

Red Sox vs. Cole: Abraham Almonte 1-1, Christian Arroyo 1-2, Xander Bogaerts 6-31, Rafael Devers 7-26, Kiké Hernández 5-12, J.D. Martinez 7-31, Reese McGuire 0-9, Tommy Pham 9-21, Kevin Plawecki 2-5, Rob Refsnyder 0-4, Trevor Story 3-17, Alex Verdugo 6-22

Stat of the day: Despite going 10-18 in August, the Yankees enter the series with a 5½-game lead in the division.

Notes: Pivetta is 0-2 in his last four starts, including a 1-0 loss in his last outing against the Rays. He’s been roughed up for 17 runs in 13⅓ innings in three starts against the Yankees this season, going 0-2. Overall, he’s 0-3 against New York in five career starts and has a 9.67 ERA. … Cole has allowed zero or one earned run in 13 of his past 25 starts, including three of the past five. He is 7-3 with a 4.14 ERA in 13 career starts against the Red Sox, including two wins this season. He struck out a season-high 14 over 6⅔ innings of one-run ball in his most recent start against Minnesota, and leads the majors with 218 strikeouts. … The Yankees have scored 10 runs or more a league-leading 20 times this season after reaching that mark just six times in all of 2021.

Song of the Day: Midnight Oil- Blue Sky Mine

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofrqm6-LCqs