Hi all.  here’s how I see baseball on this Wednesday, August 2.

There’s a good reason to say the Red Sox have a better shot at the 2017 World Series than the Yankees do.  In spite of all the July 31 machinations pulled off by Brian Cashman,  when the Yankees’ purported ace put them in a hole against the lowly Tigers the Yankees couldn’t climb out of it and they haven’t been able to prop up their two “aces” all year.  This is painful for a Yankees’ fan like me to think and even more painful to write.  A few hundred miles north The Red Sox bounced back on a night when their high-priced ace threw in a clunker against the Indians.  With a 3-run 9th-inning home run by catcher Christian Vazquez they won as good a regular-season game as you’ll see.  If you listen to Mike & Mike or Boomer & Carton you’re hearing Joe Castiglione’s screech over and over when they play the highlight from the Sox’ 12-10 win over last year’s AL champs.   My head hurts just thinking of it.

In the Bronx, CC Sabathia did what he’s done all too often over the last few seasons-get his team behind early. The once-great Sabathia gave up a 3-run home run to the Tigers’ John Hicks (John Hicks for the Love of God) and the Yankees’ offense never showed up in a 4-3 loss to the Tigers. Yes, John Hicks can tell his children that one of his 4 MLB home runs came off the great former Cy Young winner Carsten Charles Sabathia.  He can and surely will leave out the fact that CC is today’s version of Willie Mays in the 1973 World Series.

As for the Yankees offense Aaron Judge and Matt Holliday haven’t been themselves since the All-Star break-Judge hasn’t recovered from the Home Run Derby and Holliday apparently only came with a 90-day warranty before Old Age got him. I didn’t think he was a good risk from day 1 and all the clubhouse leadership he may have provided hasn’t won the Yankees any ball games. With those two continuing to be absentees and the score 4-0 early the Yankees looked lost against Anibal Sanchez who had his best days when CC was a bona fide ace. Holliday hit into a double play to end the 8th after Didi Gregorius had brought the Yankees to within a run. Didi also hit a 2-run home run earlier on, bringing back memories of last year’s Gary Sanchez and this year’s Aaron Judge before he wore himself out in a pointless exhibition which MLB should cancel for the good of the sport’s best hitters. There will be no rest for the wicked, as the Yanks and Tigers play at 1 PM today.  Of all the Yankees luck it would have to be Masahiro Tanaka starting after CC’s performance last night.  Tanaka’s 14 K’s against the Rays Friday night doesn’t excuse his 8-9 record and ERA over 5.

Meantime in Boston, the Red Sox gave a forceful demonstration of what a team’s offense should do on the rare night that their ace can’t get anybody out.  Chris Sale, the league’s strikeout leader had one of those games last night against the Indians.  He gave up 3 in the first and 2 in the second.  That should have been that.  It wasn’t.  The Sox tied it in their half of the second against the Indians’ Carlos Carrasco.  The Tribe made it a 7-5 game in the 5th.  Boston missed out on a home run in the home fifth when Austin Jackson made an impossible catch reaching into the Red Sox bull pen to rob Hanley Ramirez of a home run.  The catch drove the jaded Boston fans to rise in ovation for Jackson.  Again, that would have finished most teams’ momentum for the evening.

Not the Red Sox and not in this game. They put up 4 in their half of the 6th making it a 9-7 game. The Indians first tied it in the 9th, then took a 10-9 lead on a wild pitch.  It turned out neither closer had his stuff last night.  Following Craig Kimbrel’s blown save in the top half, in the home 9th Christian Vazquez hit his 4th career home run-yes, the same 4 career home runs as the Tigers’ John Hicks.  It cleared the fabled Green  Monster and gave his team a win folks will be talking about from Quebec to Connecticut and anywhere in between. The Red Sox don’t schedule midweek afternoon games as the Yankees do, so they have until 7 PM to try and continue after last night’s win.  That will be a challenge since Rick Porcello is on the hill.  His 4–14 record makes you wonder if Kate Upton was more correct than she knew a year ago when she tweeted that her man-Justin Verlander-should have claimed the Cy Young award.