Last night, at Fenway Park, against the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees found their guts.
Given how they followed up the 8-7 12-inning loss on Sunday with a 14-1 disaster the night before, I figured it, if the 8-7 debacle didn't wake them up, nothing would. Fortunately, I was wrong!
First, they jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Red Sox even came to bat, thanks to a 2-run triple by Giancarlo Stanton and a home run over the Green Monster by Gary Sanchez -- the 2 players who were, lately, most in need of remembering their guts. And that turned out to be the only inning that David Price, a Yankee nemesis since he was with the Tampa Bay Rays, pitched, as he was removed due to an injury precaution.
But then, in the bottom of the 1st inning, Masahiro Tanaka allowed a home run by Hanley Ramirez, and all I can think of was, "Oh, boy, here we go again!" But it didn't turn out that way, as he got out of it, and got through the 4th inning with just that one mistake.
By the way, thinking about Manny, is there a rule on the Red Sox that any player named Ramirez has to have ridiculous hair?
The Yankees scored 4 more runs in the top of the 4th, including another home run by Sanchez. It was 8-1. Ah, but this was Fenway, and we who've watched the Yankees for a while know that no lead is safe at the little green pinball machine off Kenmore Square. The Sox scored 5 runs in the 5th, including a grand slam by J.D. Martinez. 8-6 is too close, especially with so many innings to go.
But the Yankees tacked on 2 more runs in the 6th. But in the 7th, things went retro. It became an old-school Yanks-Sox fight.
The roots were in the 3rd inning, when Tyler Austin tried to break up a double play, and slid spikes-first into Sox shortstop Brock Holt. They exchanged words, but nothing happened then. With Austin not getting thrown at in his next time up, it seemed like that was the end of it.
It wasn't. In the top of the 7th, on an 0-1 count, Sox relief pitcher Joe Kelly threw behind Austin, nearly hitting him.
Okay, message sent. That should have been the end of it. But this is Yanks-Sox, and there will never be an end to it. Kelly threw a seemingly innocent ball 2, and then threw a 98 mile-per-hour fastball right in Austin's ribs.
For the most part, this is how it's gone for the Yankees since 2004: The Red Sox can do whatever they want, and the Yankees can't retaliate. I call it the Yankee Doodle Double Standard.
This time, no. Austin -- who debuted with the Yankees on August 13, 2016, literally the day after Alex Rodriguez' last major league game, never mind after Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera or Joe Torre -- took the Samuel L. Jackson approach. Enough was enough. He had had it with these motherfucking Sox in this motherfucking ballpark.
He threw his bat down, and charged the mound. He was losing the fight. But both benches cleared, and the Sox ended up getting pushed back to their own dugout. As the old football cheer goes, "Push 'em back, push 'em back, way back!"
The instigators Austin and Kelly were ejected. So were Yankee reliever Tommy Kahnle (who, based on recent appearances, the Yankees weren't going to miss) and 3rd base coach Phil Nevin.
In today's Daily News, John Harper wrote that the Yankees were mad at Sox manager Alex Cora, a longtime infielder who played with the Sox from 2005 to 2008 (and with the Mets in 2009 and 2010), and is now in his 1st year as a major league manager, after being a broadcaster and a coach with last year's World Champions, the Houston Astros.
Harper said he interviewed a former major league manager and a current player, who both asked not to be identified due to still being involved in professional baseball. The ex-manager cited Cora making a "shoo" gesture, telling Nevin to back off:
That was bush-league stuff. You don't disrespect the other coaching staff like that. Nevin is a well-respected guy in the game, a former Number 1 (draft) 1 pick... The guy had a good career. What has Cora done? He's a first-year manager. He's not Mike Scioscia...
I don't know what was said, but Cora was waving Nevin away like, 'You're not on my level.' And (Cora) was back in the dugout by then. It looked like that got (Yankee manager Aaron) Boone fired up, and I don't blame him.
Harper then quoted the player as saying:
The other part is you don't like that Kelly tried get cute, and hide his intention to hit the guy. He waits until the second pitch, and when he misses him, he waits until after another pitch before hitting him.
That's chickenshit stuff. Don't play that game, like you're trying to lull the kid into thinking everything is OK, and then you ambush him. That doesn't sit well with guys.
After the game, Stanton told the reporters that, if you want to plunk a guy, "Do it on the first pitch."At any rate, it remained 10-6 Yankees going to the bottom of the 9th. Boone brought Aroldis Chapman on to close it out. But he got shaky again, allowing a single to Jackie Bradley Jr. and a double to Christian Vazquez. He got Sandy Leon to fly out and struck Mookie Bett, out, then threw a wild pitch to score Bradley. But he struck Rafael Devers out to end it.
Yankees 10, Red Sox 7. WP: Tanaka (2-1). No save. LP: Price (1-1). We beat The Scum.
Rivalry restoked. Guts found. Uncle Mike pleased.
The series concludes tonight. Sonny Gray starts for the Good Guys, Rick Porcello for The Scum. I don't expect Gray to do anything to raise the ante, because the Yankees need this game more than the Sox do.
Let's get ready to rumble -- metaphorically speaking, of course.
UPDATE: Kelly has been suspended for 6 games, Austin for 5.