Hi all.  Here’s how I see baseball on this Wednesday, April 11.

Both the Mets and Red Sox are off to 9-1 starts in the young 2018 baseball season. Both are under the batons of rookie managers-Mickey Calloway in Flushing and Alex Cora in Boston.  Until this year only two rookie managers had led their troops to a 9-1 start, the others being the Phillies’ Pat Moran in 1915 and the Red Sox Joe Morgan in 1988.  Both of those led their teams to the postseason.

In the Mets’ case it’s the best start their franchise has  had since they began play in 1962.  Early on, last night’s game in Miami  looked like an easy win with Jacob DeGrom facing what figures to be a biblically bad Marlins’ team.  The Mets jumped out 3-0 and the Mets fans among the 6300 or so at Marlins Park assumed the game would continue as it was.  The Marlins had other ideas.  They managed to take the lead off the DeGrominator at 4-3 and 6-4 but each time the Mets matched their foe and finally passed them for good with two in the 9th. Justin Bour (pronounced Bore) showed why he’s the best bat the Marlins still have as he unloaded a pair of two-run home runs.  Asdrubal Cabrera had homered early  on, and with the game 6-4 Wilmer Flores homered and Cabrera did the same, tying the score. In the 9th, with the game at 6-6 Yoenis Cespedes doubled home the Mets’ last 2 runs, following which Jeurys Familia locked the Marlins down  in the 9th.

The Red Sox built on their streak under much more difficult conditions.  They were facing a gametime temperature of 38 degrees and a frightening (to some) Yankee lineup.  They didn’t frighten Chris Sale, not for a moment.  Even when Aaron Judge took him deep, Sale was already 5-0 ahead anc could afford to allow a solo shot to the Judge.  The Sox would counter with a 9-run 6th inning.  As always this leads to questions about the Yankees’ pitching staff.  Does Luis Severino have what it takes to win high-pressure games?  If not, he leaves his team in a major spot. Giving up 5 earned runs in 5 innings in a game against his team’s biggest rivalry isn’t heartening to a team with major pitching questions. Down 5-1 the Yankees turned to Tommy Khanle which on this night was a wrong turn.  He gave up 2 hits while walking 3 on his way to giving up 5 runs. The truly stunning fact is, this is the best start in the history of the Red Sox.  They have a 60-year jump on the Mets, but that doesn’t change the fact they have never started as well as they have here in 2018.