Quick Reaction: Stanton and Judge Heroics Save Boone (and Season)…for now

The Yankees went into Fenway Park and swept the rival Red Sox in the biggest series of the season. This weekend will be remembered as Giancarlo Stanton’s weekend as the slugger led the way with seven hits, three home runs, and 10 RBIs. He drove in the winning runs on Friday and Saturday before adding two massive insurance runs on Sunday. His towering partner in crime, Aaron Judge, drove in the game winner on Sunday with a two-run double before scoring on Stanton’s home run. Surely their heroics will be the talk of New York on the Monday off day. After all, they vaulted the Yankees past the Red Sox and into the first Wild Card slot. In Boston, the tabloids will read that Judge should have been out and perhaps Stanton is walked with 2-on and 2-out to set up Joey Gallo vs Adam Ottavino. But what many people will forget about tonight’s game is how Alex Cora almost stole this game from the Yankees.

If Cora invited Boone to the park today to play a game of chess, Boone brought his checkerboard. Unlike the media, which refuses to ask Boone any tough questions, we at NYY News will actually hold him accountable. In a season marred with inconsistencies and poor managerial decisions, Boone committed what looked to be his most costly in the 7th inning. After striking out the side on 11 pitches, righty Clay Holmes came out to pitch in the 7th inning. After taking his warm up pitches, Red Sox lefty Travis Shaw was announced as a pinch hitter for  Christian Arroyo. Boone had lefties Wandy Peralta and Joely Rodriguez up in the Yankee bullpen, and he settled on Joely Rodriguez being his man. Except, Joely would not face Shaw. Rather, he would face right-handed hitter Jose Iglesias followed by lefty Alex Verdugo and another righty in Christian Vasquez. After facing the requisite three batters, Rodriguez exited a now tie game.

The blueprint seemed perfect. A quick and dominant inning from Holmes opened up the possibility to let him pitch the 7th inning before handing the ball to Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman. With Jonathan Loaisiga and Zach Britton injured, Holmes was the best option. After all, in 21 appearances since being acquired from the Pirates, Holmes has recorded 4 or more outs in six of those outings. This was far from uncharted territory for Holmes, and clearly they were comfortable with him starting another inning. Meanwhile, in 43 games as a Yankee, Peralta has pitched 39.1 innings. While he has found himself in some high leverage spots, he is not above Holmes on the bullpen trust hierarchy. Since being acquired from Texas, Rodriguez has had 12 of his 20 outings where he did not record three outs, raising the question of the Yankees comfort with him facing righties. Boone was uncomfortable with the matchup despite Holmes being arguably his best reliever for the last two-plus months. He overmanaged, and it backfired miserably.

You can’t help but give credit where credit is due. Cora made a genius move and Aaron Boone bit hook, line, and sinker. He brought Shaw in knowing he was comfortable with either outcome. Either Boone leaves Holmes in to face the lefty, giving them the platoon advantage, or Boone brings in one of the lefties, taking Holmes and subsequently Shaw out of the game. Even if Shaw hit, he probably would have been replaced defensively by Iglesias anyway, so he didn’t really waste Shaw. He merely used him as a decoy to get the remove the dominant righty from the game. More importantly, Cora kept his most potent lefty bat on the bench in the presence of Kyle Schwarber. Like him or not, Alex Cora is a very good manager, and he totally outmanaged Aaron Boone in the 7th inning. He played chess while Aaron Boone tried to figure out why the pieces weren’t red and black. Cora check mated Boone tonight, but Judge and Stanton flipped the board before the last piece was down.

It feels good that the Yankees swept the Red Sox tonight, but a good manager will eat Booney alive in the postseason. And that is very worrisome for anyone paying attention. His job may be saved for the time being, but one more mistake and he may not be so lucky.