FOtF Game 111: Pretty Ricky Tosses a Gem and Cora Gets Tossed in Red Sox Win

Porcello's performance snuck up on me. I was so enthralled by the rivalry, and all the early game drama, that by the time I started to pay attention, he was already well on his way to pitching a complete game. Porcello had it all going for him last night. His slider looked deadly, he was freezing hitters with his two-seamer, and commanding the zone. Ricky went the distance, only allowing two baserunners all day. The first, a controversial one, was the first batter of the day. Brett Garnder quickly fell behind Porcello, but a fastball ran inside and hit Gardner. The only other baserunner of the game was a moonshot HR from Andujar in the third. Other than that, Porcello was untouchable. I'm sorry, but I thought this Yankees team was supposed to have the best offense in the majors. After setting down the last 21 he faced, I think it's safe to say that's not true. In 9 innings, Porcello also did;t walk a single battle while striking out 9. The most impressive part of his outing? He did it all on 86 pitches. A deliberate outing for Porcello, who wasted no time in burying the Yankees.

Now for the storyline play of the game. In response to the Brett Gardner HBP, which was presumably unintentional, Severino took matters into his own hands. The first pitch of the bottom of the first inning was a heat seeker right at the head of Mookie, knocking him down. The home plate umpire wasted no time in issuing warnings, and Cora didn't take too kindly to that. He quickly hopped off the top step, as jogged out to get an explanation. He must've been walking with too much aggression, Adam Hamari threw Cora out of the game before he has even made it to home plate. His first ejection of the year and it was electric. That man is #mymanager and followed up his macho display with some postgame shade. When asked if "this" was over with Severino and the Yankees, he responded in the best way possible. "Is 4 runs in 6 innings a quality start," responded Cora, quickly popping up from his chair and marching out of the press room.

As for the rest of the game, it was completely overshadowed by Porcello. The other great moment was Steven Pearce's home run, his fourth in two games against the Yankees. While he was rounding the bases, the Red Sox dugout started shouting out at the diamond. They weren't words of excitement for Pearce, the Red Sox players were targeting Severino. Sale, the most vocal of them all, was presumably telling him to watch his ass because he is toast. Oh, and probably that he is the far superior pitcher.

This afternoon, Eovaldi will take on some prospect from AAA, as the Red Sox look to extend on their already huge lead of 7.5 games. The Red Sox are a season's best 43 games over and are playing some dominant baseball.