MLB on Sling TV: Red Sox Look to Clinch AL East, Yankees Look to Play Spoiler on ESPN2; Tuesday’s Action on FOX Sports Regional Networks
(all times Eastern, starters subject to change)
Boston Red Sox (Price 17-8, 3.91) vs. New York Yankees (Cessa 4-3, 4.30)
7pm ET on ESPN2
The Boston Red Sox come into tonight riding an 11-game winning streak and with a chance to clinch the AL East, thanks to the Yankees’ benches-clearing win last night over the Blue Jays, one that saw the Bombers rally for 5 in the top of the 9th for a 7-5 victory.
The Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson got grazed on the elbow by a Luis Severino pitch in the bottom of the first, then in the top of the second Toronto starter JA Happ hit Chase Headley in the butt. Benches cleared, warnings were issued, done and done, right? Nope. Severino, who started the whole mess – intentionally or not – took one more bite of the apple, hitting Toronto’s Justin Smoak, clearing the benches yet again and earning himself an early shower. Nerves would settle, baseball would be played and the Blue Jays would take a 3-2 into the 9th, whereupon Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer to tie it, and then New York proceeded to bat around, scoring 4 more times.
David Price takes the hill for Boston, having won his last 8 decisions with a 2.86 ERA, 63 K’s and just 10 walks in 63 innings. For the Yankees, it’s 24-year-old rookie Luis Cessa, who faced the Sox on September 16, giving up 3 runs over 5 innings en route to a 7-4 loss.
At 92-64, the Sox hold a 6-game lead in the AL East over the Blue Jays with 6 to play, so the next Boston win or Toronto loss seals it. And with the Texas Rangers’ 8-3 loss Monday to Milwaukee, the Sox are now a half-game ahead in the quest for the best record in the AL and home field advantage throughout the postseason.
Officially eliminated from the AL East race, and hanging on by a thread in the Wild Card hunt, where they’re 5 back with 6 games to play, for the Yankees there’s little more to do than play spoiler and cheer on Gary Sanchez’s Rookie of the Year campaign. After running their record to a season-best 76-65, the Bombers went 3-11. But even during the downtime, Sanchez continued to rake, putting up a .923 OPS over that span, with 6 homers and 14 RBI. According to Baseball Reference, Sanchez now has 3.0 WAR in just 48 games, best among AL position players, regardless of playing time. Sanchez’s only real competition for RoY is Detroit starter Michael Fulmer, who has 5.0 WAR through 155 ⅔ innings pitched, and leads the AL in ERA at 2.95. Do you vote for the guy who’s been excellent all season or the guy who’s been historically great for two months?
Watch the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees at 7pm ET Tuesday on ESPN2 by subscribing to the Sling Orange.
And here’s the action from the FOX Sports regional networks across the land…
Arizona Diamondbacks (Koch 1-1, 1.29) at Washington Nationals (Scherzer 18-7, 2.82)
7:05pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona
Boston Red Sox (Price 17-8, 3.91) at. New York Yankees (Cessa 4-3, 4.30)
7:05pm ET on YES
Cleveland Indians (Clevinger 2-2, 4.65) at Detroit Tigers (Verlander 15-8, 3.21)
7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Detroit & SportsTime Ohio
New York Mets (Syndergaard 13-9, 2.63) at Miami Marlins (Koehler 9-12, 4.02)
7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Florida
Philadelphia Phillies (Eickhoff 11-14, 3.75) at Atlanta Braves (Teheran 6-10, 3.10)
7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Southeast
Minnesota Twins (Berrios 2-7, 8.88) at Kansas City Royals (Kennedy 11-10, 3.64)
7:15pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City & FOX Sports North
Milwaukee Brewers (Nelson 8-15, 4.50) at Texas Rangers (Griffin 7-4, 4.94)
8:05pm ET on FOX Sports Southwest & FOX Sports Wisconsin
Tampa Bay Rays (Cobb 1-1, 6.16) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 16-9, 3.19)
8:10pm ET on Fox Sports Sun
Cincinnati Reds (Stephenson 2-2, 5.59) at St. Louis Cardinals (Wainwright 12-9, 4.57)
8:15pm ET on FOX Sports Cincinnati & FOX Sports Midwest
Oakland Athletics (Mengden 2-8, 5.74) at Los Angeles Angels (Nolasco 7-14, 4.60)
10:05pm ET on FOX Sports West
Los Angeles Dodgers (De Leon 2-0, 5.52) at San Diego Padres (Clemens 3-5, 4.48)
10:10pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego
Watch baseball on FOX and FOX Sports Regional Networks by subscribing to the Sling Blue.
All stats courtesy of ESPN and Baseball Reference