Red Sox 15, Yankees 5: A Fun Friday Night at Fenway*

First and foremost, thoughts and prayers to Tanner Houck who took a line drive off the face and had to exit the game. I won’t link the injury because it can be hard to watch, but if you search Twitter it shouldn’t be difficult to find. Hopefully, it’s not as bad as it looked, but there was a fairly sizeable cut on his cheek after the injury. I will say, it would be pretty awesome if he came back to pitch with a Jaylen Brown-style mask.

The Houck injury put somewhat of a damper on what was otherwise a “fun Friday night at Fenway”.

The game was a laugher, pretty much from the jump. The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but from there it was all Red Sox. A season high in both runs and hits for the Red Sox on a Friday night against the Yankees, it doesn’t really get much better than that. Justin Turner led the way with a couple of home runs, everyone in the lineup hit, and the Yankees made error after error in the field. In a weird way, the Yankees looked more like the Red Sox than the Red Sox did tonight. Anthony Rizzo was stumbling around at first base like a drunk Hanley Ramirez.

Perhaps most importantly though, the Sox got into the Yankees’ bullpen early in the series opener. It’s Clarke Schmidt tomorrow and Luis Severino on Sunday. If the Yankees can’t get out to an early lead, they could have a hard time managing their bullpen if they don’t want to use their high-leverage arms. Houck only went a few innings before the injury, but Joe Jacques and Corey Kluber did an admirable job filling up those middle innings without letting the Yankees back in the game. Brayan Bello tomorrow for a series win and to get the team back on track.

Three Studs

Justin Turner (3-5, 2 HR, 1 2B, 6 RBI)

Justin Turner 6, Yankees 5. This was definitely the best game of Turner’s short-lived Red Sox career. He’s doing everything he can to endear himself to Red Sox fans by killing the Yankees at every turn. His third-inning grand slam blew this one open and gave us this great call by Dave O’Brien.

Masataka Yoshida (4-4, 3 RBI, 2 2B)

I’d like to hear from the GMs who were so sure that the Red Sox way overpaid for Yoshida. I don’t really blame them for saying that; it was trendy to dunk on the Sox for every move they made, regardless of what the moves actually were. All the guy does is hit, and I’m thrilled he’ll be on the team for the next several years.

The Rest of the Lineup

You don’t score 15 runs without everyone contributing.

Three Duds

Rafael Devers (0-4, 2 K, 1 BB)

Well, maybe not everyone. Devers still hasn’t really clicked like we know he can. Last weekend against the Yankees seemed to have woken him up, but there were some really non-competitive at-bats tonight. Still not worried.

Kyle Higashioka (Lined a ball off Tanner Houck’s face)

He hit Tanner Houck in the face with a line drive. I’m sure he feels bad about it, but saying sorry doesn’t take you out of the dud column.

Nestor Cortes (DNP)

Nestor Cortes (fear) was unavailable as he remains on the IL in order to dodge the Red Sox after saying the rivalry doesn’t have any juice due to one team not bringing it anymore. I know it’s only the first game of the series, but I’d like to hear that weird windup merchant’s thoughts on the rivalry now after getting absolutely dog-walked. Get rid of that mustache too; you’re a New York Yankee, not saving Princess Peach from a castle.

Play of the Game

It’s Justin Turner’s grand slam. No doubt about it.