Game 1, 4/8/2022

After an early playoff exit and a dreadful lockout within Major League Baseball, the 2022 season is underway. And what better way to start than with a series win against the same team that knocked the Yanks out in the 2021 Wild Card Games, their rival, the Boston Red Sox.

Game 1, originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon, was delayed until Friday due to some bad weather in the Bronx, so us fans had to wait an extra day, after an already delayed start to the rematch between Gerrit Cole and Nathan Eovaldi.

Cole started out shaky, which looked a lot like his start against the Sox back in October. After giving up three runs in the first, Cole started to settle in, and thanks to an Anthony Rizzo 2-run homer in the bottom half of the inning, the game was kept close early.

Cole’s afternoon ended after 4.0 innings and in the bottom of the fourth, Giancarlo Stanton continued his hot streak with his fifth home run in five straight games against Boston, to tie the game at three.

From there, the the game was in the hands of the bullpen starting with Chad Green who pitched one inning giving up one hit. He was followed by Chase Holmes in the sixth, who struggled a bit, giving up three hits for only one earned. This would give the Red Sox the lead yet again. Newly acquired Miguel Castro was able to finish out the inning with a strikeout and a walk.

Both offenses stayed quiet for a bit until the bottom of the eighth, thanks to Jonathon Loaisiga and Wandy Peralta for New York and Garrett Whitlock for Boston. This would not last long, as DJ LeMahieu tied the game at four with a solo shot that would put an end to Whitlock’s afternoon. Matt Strahm would relieve him of his duties, and was able to escape the inning without any further damage.

As we headed to the ninth, everyone was on their toes to see which Aroldis Chapman we would see. Luckily for Yankee fans, aside from a few wild pitches, he seemed to be himself as he faced the minimum with two strikeouts.

It was time to see if the Yankees could walk it off against Hector Robles, in the bottom of the ninth. After two quick outs it looked as if the game would head to extras, until Judge doubled to deep left. However, after intentionally walking Rizzo, Robles was able to strike out Giancarlo Stanton to avoid the walk-off.

With the extra-inning rules still in place, Jonathon Aroúz came in to pinch run at second for the Sox, and Michael King would enter to face their top of the order. Kiké Hernández struck out, and the Yankees decided to intentionally walk Rafael Devers. Xander Bogaerts would then go on to hit an RBI single to left. King would then get JD Martinez to ground into a double play to end the inning and give the Yankee bats a chance to stay alive.

Jake Diekman would come onto try and secure the victory for the Red Sox, with Marwin Gonzales on second base. He would first face DJ LeMahieu, who got on after being hit by a pitch. Joey Gallo then grounded out, thankfully for the Yankees, the ball was not hit hard enough for a double play to be turned and LeMahieu would be safe at second. They would have runners on second and third for Hicks, but the Red Sox decided to walk him to face Kyle Higashioka. The Yankees pinch-hit Gleyber Torres with the bases loaded, as Ryan Brasier would come in to pitch. Torres was able to come through and tie the game with a sacrifice fly, but that would be all the Yankees got after Isaiah Kiner-Falefa struck out.

To the eleventh we would go, and Michael King would continue to pitch. He was able to set the Red Sox down in order, striking out two. The Yankees were in great position to take advantage of a great top half of the inning by King. The bottom half of the inning would be led off by Josh Donaldson facing Kutter Crawford, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, both in their first game with New York. They would start out on top, as Donaldson singled into center to score IKF and walk it off against their biggest rivals.

An 11 inning game on opening day, and it was a good one. The Yankees were able to come from behind in multiple innings for the win which was something that was desperately needed last year, and it looks like the new signings are already doing what GM Brian Cashman brought them here to do.

Final: Yankees 6 (W, M. King), Red Sox 5 (L, K. Crawford)
Star of the Game: Josh Donaldson

Game 2, 4/9/2022

After a big win for the Yankees, it was time to see how their former ace, Luis Severino would be in his first regular season start since 2019. If he could get back to the pitcher he was before Tommy John surgery, him following Gerrit Cole would make the Yankee rotation a force to be reckoned with.

Sevy was able to get out of the first inning 1-2-3, which was a great sign. Nick Pivetta was able to do the same to the Yankees. In the second, Alex Verdugo took advantage of a missed spot by Severino after a JD Martinez infield single, which would put the Red Sox up by two.

There was not much action from either teams until the bottom of the fourth when Josh Donaldson led off the inning with a single. Aaron Judge was then able to move him over with a deep fly ball. Then, for his second of the year and in back-to-back games, Anthony Rizzo hit a 2-run homer to right field. This tied the game at two.

Miguel Castro relieved, rookie, Ron Marinaccio for the top of the fifth inning and had a clean inning besides one walk, his second clean outing in a row. Castro being followed by Lucas Luetge in the sixth.

The game would remain tied at two until the bottom of the sixth inning when Giancarlo Stanton hit a 437 foot bomb to left-center field, to score him and Judge. The Yankees lead would increase to four to two. This would be Stanton’s sixth home run in six games in a row against the Red Sox. Pivetta would face one more batter in LeMahieu, before the Red Sox dipped into the bullpen.

Following this the Yankee bullpen continued to impress as Chad Green, Clay Holmes, and Chapman would pitch the seventh, eighth, and ninth with no damage, and allowing the Yanks to secure the series win.

Final: Yankees 4 (W, L. Luetge; S, A. Chapman) , Red Sox 2 (L, N. Pivetta)

Star of the Game: Yankee Bullpen

Game 3, 4/10/2022

The final game of this series looked a lot like some other Yankee teams from recent history. This meaning, not being able to hit with with runners in scoring position. Jordan Montgomery got the start and looked to improve upon a decent 2021 season; however, Xander Bogaerts hit a line drive into the leg of Montgomery on the 12th pitch of the game. He was able to stay in the game after some discomfort, but happened to give up two runs in the first.

The Yanks were able to load the bases in the bottom half, but not able to drive anything in as Gleyber Torres flew out to end the inning. There was not much action until the bottom of the third inning when Giancarlo Stanton continued to show his dominance over the Red Sox with an RBI single. Again, the Yankees had the bases loaded. This time with only one out, but Aaron Hicks grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The following inning, Montgomery faced three batters, two of them getting on. The Yankees turned to Clarke Schmidt to try and get out of it. Besides a Jonathon Aroúz, sac-fly, he was able to do so. The score was 3-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Tanner Houck was replaced by Ryan Brasier who would face Anthony Rizzo with two on and one out. Rizzo was able to rack up another two RBI’s on a single to center. Yet, Aaron Judge grounded into another double play to end the inning.

Again in the fifth the Yankees had a chance to strike, with runners on second and third, but a foul out and a strikeout kept the score even at three when they desperately needed a run. Bobby Dalbec would then hit a lead-off homer to take the lead again.

There was not much more action for the rest of the game, as Boston’s one run lead started to feel like a lot more. Jake Diekman came on in the bottom of the ninth to try and secure the save against the heart of the Yankee order. He was able to do so with strike outs against Judge, Stanton, and Gallo to give the Red Sox their first win of 2022.

Final: Red Sox 4 (W, K. Crawford; S, J. Diekman), Yankees 3 (L, C. Schmidt)

Star of the Game: Bobby Dalbec

By Chris Trentacosta

It has been 12 years since the New York Yankees have won a World Series. In fact, the Yankees have not even won a pennant since 2009, the year of their last World Series win. 12 years without a championship marks the third longest World Series drought in the history of the New York Yankees franchise. Therefore, it is evident that something must be done this off-season, in order to turn it around.

It was thought that the Yankees would look to one of the superstar, free-agent shortstops that were available this winter. With Corey Seager and Javier Baez already signing elsewhere, it has began to look as if the Yankees have lost a step. Sure stars like Carlos Correa and Trevor Story are still available, teams are throwing money at players that they want, right away, while the Yankees sit back and watch them fall off the board. Is this part of some plan that Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman are planning, or are is the once Evil Empire, not so evil anymore.

In addition, Major League Baseball is now in a lockout. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between players and owners has expired which has basically put a pause on the off-season and may affect the regular season’s start date as well. This means no free agents will be signed. Teams like the the Texas Rangers, the New York Mets, and Detroit Tigers decided to do a lot of signings prior to the inevitable lockout, and they got a lot of big name players because of it. Now the Yankees are in a tough spot. They need a shortstop. They need pitching. They need to resign Aaron Judge, the face of their franchise, and a lockout is not going to help any of this get done any quicker.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/1kRV4qzD-Y0jVS7d8.html

By Chris Trentacosta

The West Virginia Division II Ice Hockey team have improved to 6-4 after their road trip to Virginia, this past weekend. The Mountaineers faced off against Virginia Tech on Friday night, where they lost 4-1. The Mountaineers kept it close until the third, when an empty netter put the game out of reach. They then traveled to Virginia’s capital, Richmond, to face the Spiders on Saturday night. Here, they got back on track with a blowout 8-3 victory. Luke Evangelista netted a hat trick in the Mountaineer victory

“It’s a great feeling coming home after a win like that, especially with the ACC tournament coming up next week,” said Evangelista, “We have a lot of momentum and are excited to make a run this year.”

On the 12^th, the team will travel to The Saint James Sports Complex, in Springfield, Virginia, for the Atlantic Coastal Conference tournament. Here they will play three games in three days with their first being against Richmond again. WVU hopes to perform similarly to how they did this past weekend. Evangelista said, “It definitely is a nice feeling, knowing we just played really well against a team, and we get to lead off the tournament against them. Hopefully, a win will get us going for the rest of the weekend.”

Friday’s game will be followed with a matchup against St Joseph’s University on Saturday, and James Madison University, on Sunday. The Mountaineers have been playing a lot of good hockey, as of late, and they hope to have another successful weekend in Virginia. At best WVU can improve to 9-4, which would put them in a great position going into their final two games before Thanksgiving break.

Evangelista and the rest of the team are confident in the way they are playing and are looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully they will perform to their potential and climb up in the standings.

Chris Trentacosta

10/12/2022

For the 12th season in a row, the New York Yankees will not get the opportunity to play for a world series. Last Tuesday, the Yankees faced off with their biggest rival, the Boston Red Sox, in a single-elimination wild card game, at Fenway Park. The Red Sox would go on to win this game with a score of 6-2. This allowed them to move on to the American League Division Series, to play another American League East rival, the Tampa Bay Rays.

The big story in this game was Yankee ace, Gerrit Cole, not making it out of the third inning, giving up three earned runs, on four hits, with only three strikeouts. This is not the normal Gerrit Cole that the Yankees are paying 324 million dollars for. However, this has been the case for him all year at Fenway Park, as he gave up 14 runs through 18 innings there this season.

Although Cole did not play his best, Giancarlo Stanton tried his best to keep the Yankees’ postseason hopes alive, with going 3-4 with a single and a double off the Green Monster, as well as a solo home run, down the right field line. The other of the two runs scored by the Bombers, was another solo shot by Anthony Rizzo. Aside from the two, no Yankees were able to combat the dominant pitching by the Nathan Eovaldi and the Red Sox bullpen.

There are many questions about what the Yankees will do in the offseason, whether it be changing managers, resigning free agents, or parting ways with some players, in the search of new ones. Maybe a combination of a few, maybe none, however the Yankees must figure out a way to stop this World Series drought and get back to their old winning ways.

They will begin their 2022 campaign on March 31^st with a series in Texas, against the Rangers. They will return to the Bronx in their third series of the season with a series against, none other than the Boston Red Sox. The “Bronx Zoo” will most definitely be loud as the Yankees will look for some revenge.

Chris Trentacosta

9/22/2021

            With only 10 games left to play in the regular season, the Yankees find themselves in a tough spot, sitting a half a game back in the American League wild card race. Ahead of them are division rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox. They finish their season with a series against each of these teams, as well as the first place Tampa Bay Rays.

            The Bronx Bombers are in a bit of a skid as of late but are beginning to get back on track. After a 13-game win streak in August, in which they took the first wild card position, they only won 3 out of their next 15 games. However, they are just beginning to get hot again, at just the right time. They are 6-4 in their last 10 and look to cap off a sweep of the Texas Rangers, tonight, before heading to Boston to face the Red Sox, who now hold the top spot in the wild card race. If they keep up the way they have been playing they will have a great opportunity to regain this position and gain home field advantage for the single-elimination wild card game, on October 5^th.

            The Yankees have played in five wild card games since 2015, in which they are 4-1. In wild card games at Yankee Stadium in these years, they are 2-1. After a 2020 season with no fans in the Bronx, the Yankees must hope that they can play this game at home with a playoff atmosphere that they have not seen since 2019.

            The season has been a rollercoaster of emotions, all season long, and these next few weeks will not stray away from that trend. With all the talent that they Yankees possess; they should have no issue performing the way they did during their streak in August. It will be very interesting to see how this wild card race sets up in the coming days.

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