The Yankees wiped out Boston 9-0 in Game 1, and Sal Licata and JJ Jastremski came away with different takes on the latest edition of The Slate. Sal saw a Red Sox team with no path back. JJ saw just about everything you’d want from a postseason opener.
Sal: The Red Sox Are Done, and the Analytics Crowd Lost
Boston couldn’t hit, didn’t pitch well, and looked lost once it stepped onto the field in the Bronx. The Yankees took three of four from the Red Sox in August, and that was supposed to be the end of it. Talk of a tough matchup nearly changed that. Game 1 settled it.
“I do not believe the Red Sox belong on the same field as the Yankees. And you’re telling me that Sonny Gray is gonna shut down that Yankee line up …”
Chad Tracy pulled Payton Tolle before a third look at Ben Rice. Rice promptly homered off the reliever. Aaron Boone went the other way and trusted Schlittler into the seventh instead of rushing to the bullpen. Sal still can’t defend Heliot Ramos hitting third in a postseason game, even in a 9-0 win.
JJ: Schlittler’s Sequel Lived Up to the Original
Last year’s elimination game against Boston put Cam Schlittler on the map. Game 1 was the sequel.
“It’s the Red Sox again. It’s starting off the postseason, so it was like Godfather 2. Baby, it was just as good. You wanna tell me it wasn’t as good? It was just as good. They had no chance.”
Ben Rice, Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe all came through too. The bullpen is where JJ still has doubts. He doesn’t trust Hedrick, Blackburn or Bednar in big spots.
Time to Drop the Hammer
Both hosts landed in the same place: don’t give Boston another opening.
Finish the series Wednesday and the Yankees keep the advantage they built in Game 1. Let Boston force a third game and the bullpen gets taxed, the rotation gets rearranged and a rested Tampa team is waiting on the other side.
That’s why Sal’s message for Game 2 is simple: “drop the hammer.” And if the series goes three, he says, “it will already feel like a loss.”
Watch the live reaction below.
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