Alex Rodriguez vs. Jason Varitek. We probably won’t see anything like that in sports for a very long time, but the greatest rivalry in professional sports is heating up. The Yankees came into the latest series against the Red Sox winners of 15 of their last 16 and took over the best record in the league and the lead in the AL East after taking the first two games from the Red Sox.
Unlike the first series in Boston, this is real Sox/Yankees baseball. Close games with late-inning drama are what baseball fans want to see out of this series. That’s what last night’s game gave us, with Hanley Ramirez’s go-ahead home run in the 7th, and Brett Gardner’s triple to retake the lead in the 8th.
We’ve already seen a brawl this year between these teams, and it doesn’t look like the feud between Joe Kelly, and Tyler Austin is going away anytime soon. Kelly was welcomed to New York by a cascade of boos, after being celebrated in Boston with standing ovations at a Bruins playoff game, and during his first appearance after the fight.
Two huge acquisitions have helped reignite the rivalry. For the Red Sox, it was All-Star slugger J.D Martinez, who has proven to be one of the best hitters in all of baseball. Martinez is currently hitting .351 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs and is showing Red Sox fans he was worth every penny. For the Yankees, it was 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton. After a slow start, Stanton has begun to hit his stride as he’s currently hitting .237 with nine home runs and 22 RBIs.
We haven’t seen a brawl yet in this series, but expect another one by the end of the season. The fight with the Red Sox seemed to light a fire under the Yankees, as they’ve only lost three games since. They definitely still want retaliation, and if a Yankee pitcher, like say Dellin Betances, were to throw at anyone on the Red Sox, there would definitely be fireworks. This is the perfect year for the Sox and Yankees to face in the playoffs, and it definitely would be one of the most memorable playoff series in any sport in recent history.
