The encouraging news for the Boston Red Sox is that newly acquired starter Drew Pomeranz pitched much better in his second Red Sox start than his first, giving up just four hits and two runs, while striking out seven over six innings. But the final result was a loss because the guy throwing for the Detroit Tigers is a former Cy Young and MVP award winner and Justin Verlander pitched like both last night, giving up just one run in a 4-2 Tigers victory.
The Sox led 1-0 on a second inning double by Travis Shaw that scored Jackie Bradley Jr. from first, and Pomeranz kept the Tigers scoreless until former Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth. The Tigers tacked on two more to take a 4-1 lead into the eighth but after Verlander was taken out of the game, the Sox wasted a golden opportunity when they loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth. Sandy Leon singled in a run to make it 4-2 but that's all Boston would get, with Bryce Brentz and Brock Holt both striking out and Mookie Betts grounding out to end the threat. The loss drops the Sox two and a half games behind division leading Baltimore.
The NY Yankees won twice last night, and not because they swept a double-header. One win was on the scoreboard, topping the red hot Houston Astros 2-1 in Texas. Austin Romine had the tie-breaking hit, an RBI double in the eighth to make a winner of Michael Pineda, who was very good for a second straight start, giving up just one run over seven innings on a solo homer to George Springer. Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller finished things off in the late innings, and if you're wondering why Aroldis Chapman didn't close out the game for New York, well, that gets us to the Yankees' second win of the day.
Chapman was traded yesterday to the Chicago Cubs for four players, including one of the most highly rated prospects in the game, nineteen year old short stop Gleyber Torres. The Yankees also get starting pitcher Adam Warren, a very reliable number three or four guy, and two other minor league prospects.
Yes, the Cubs get the best reliever in baseball, and a guy who can top 100 miles per hour on the radar gun, and with all due respect to the Washington Nationals, the Cubbies are now the odds-on favorite to win the pennant and get a shot at their first World Series since 1908. But the Cubs are also getting a player who missed more than a month at the start of this season on a league suspension following allegations that he attacked his girlfriend, an incident that led to a visit from the police but no charges, citing insufficient evidence. Chapman is also a free agent after this season, so this amounts to an all-in rental for the Cubs, who paid a steep price in sending a very generous package of players back to the Yankees. And since New York still has two of the best relievers in the game in Betances and Miller, getting rid of Chapman doesn't make their bullpen significantly weaker. Ultimately, the only way this move works out for the Cubs is if they win the Fall Classic, and even then you could make the argument that they sold a bit of their soul, along with a bevy of talent, in doing so.
The Mets and Cardinals were rained out in New York last night.
On Sunday the Vermont Lake Monsters lost a close one to the Tri-City Valley Cats, taking a lead into the ninth before the Cats rallied for two in a walk-off win, but things weren't nearly so close last night. The Valley Cats unleashed a fourteen hit attack and rolled over the Monsters 13-1 in Troy, New York.
Mother Nature spoiled the fun in Montpelier last night, with the Vermont Mountaineers and North Adams Steeplecats rained out. But that just means double the fun today as the teams play two to make it up. Game one is set for 3:30 with the nightcap to follow at 6:30 at Recreational Field.
One other local note I didn't get to yesterday. If you're looking for the fittest man on Earth, look no further than Colchester, Vermont. That's where Matthew Fraser lives, but this past Sunday he was three thousand miles away in Carson, California winning the mens' Crossfit competition, finishing ahead of the entire field after a series of grueling events including the Handstand Walk, the Suicide Sprint and Redemption, and the Ranch Mini Chipper, which, just hearing them, make me want to go and take a nap. But Fraser handled all of it, and won the title this year after finishing second in both 2015 and 2014.
