Judge saves Sonny’s GEM of a Start! And we swept the Jays!

SORREY Toronto! I won’t go into a whole Canadian dialect again, but I just wanted to officially apologize to Toronto and their scrub baseball team.

My apologies, but I’ve had a minor vendetta against the Blue Jays that has been boiling for the last few years. Jose Bautista’s cheating ass (he cheated, trust me), coupled with the fact that they were a playoff threat in our division a few years ago, has made me grow to hate this team.

But now, they’re just a sorry excuse of a franchise. So is it really fair to beat up on them? Maybe, maybe not. But it sure is fun!

However, for a while the other night, this game was NOT FUN. Try frustrating. Annoying. Aggravating. Irritating. But fun…nah, that wouldn’t describe it.

Why do you ask? Because we almost ruined an AMAZING start by Sonny Gray. Amazing doesn’t even really describe it. This was the most locked in I have ever seen this guy.

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He pitched 8 innings. Gave up only 2 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, and NO RUNS. Just a casual 8 inning shut-out…Not a big deal really

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Just kidding, it was a HUGE DEAL.

For a guy who has been a question mark for the majority of this season, this was huge. Seeing Sonny dominating out there was an exciting development in this 2018 campaign. It was even more exhilarating after dealing with the Monty-Tommy John news.

To get serious for a second, our backs are against the wall when it comes to starting pitching. Offense? We’re a fucking juggernaut. No problems there. The bullpen? It can be a little shaky at times, but when they’re on point, they’re an extremely solid pen..

But starting pitching? That was our weakness last year, it was our weakness to start the year, and it is still a very prevalent issue.

Sevy is a MONSTER. CC is still great, but he is also old as hell. We’re going to need him, but will his body hold up? Tanaka is shaky, Monty is gone for the year, and Germán has shown flashes, but I do not think he is ready to be a consistent starter.

But Sonny? We haven’t really known what to expect from Sonny on a week to week basis. He started off the year BAD AS FUCK. Then, he stopped being bad every week and seemed to rotate between okay and shitty.

But now…is something changing? Are we finally seeing the guy we envisioned when we traded for him at last year’s deadline? Are we finally witnessing the former Oakland All-Star who was 14-7 with a 2.73 ERA?!

We might be! We just might be! KNOCK ON WOOD. KNOCK ON AS MUCH FUCKING WOOD AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY FIND. I JUST WOUND UP AND PUNCHED A DAMN TREE. KNOCK. ON. WOOD.

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In his previous start, Sonny’s stat line was: 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 0 walks, 6 K’s.

For all of you guys that aren’t math whizzes, his combined stat line from his last two starts is:

14 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks, 14 K’s. HOLY SHIT. That is incredible.

It sucks that he ended up not getting the win on Wednesday night, but seeing that performance from Sonny Gray gets me really pumped up for the future.

 

You earned a few smiles, Sonny! Now go out and get a third straight solid start (nice alliteration there) and I will truly start to believe in the Sonny Renaissance.

DON’T FORGET TO KNOCK ON WOOD THOUGH.

Okay, now that I had my little Sonny love fest, it is time to switch back to game action. While our guy was locked in, Sam Gaviglio was pitching a gem too.

We were extremely incapable of getting any sort of offense going. Straight up powerless.

Side note: Have any of you guys ever had those nightmares when you’re like semi-conscious, but you cannot move. Like you’re totally immobile?

Worst nightmares ever! The only way to break out of them (at least for me) is to literally wake myself up.

Flailing around, while asleep, even though you feel like you’re powerless and cannot move. Horrible, totally horrible. Anyone get those?

No…just me? Okay, great. Fuck.

Anyways, that is my analogy for describing our offense vs the Jays. Totally incapable of moving or doing anything.

We were actually able to get the bases loaded in the 5th, but our good pal Gregory grounded out and that was that. Then, we didn’t even have a damn baserunner until a Didi single in the 9th. And he got caught stealing soon after!

See…powerless

Chad Green, Dellin, and D-Rob did their jobs after Sonny exited the game. But, so did the damn Blue Jays bullpen.

And the game went on. And on. And on…. 12 innings of goddamn scoreless baseball. Insane.

Finally, we arrived at the 13th. Lucky number 13?!

After a Gardy single, we arrived at “What a guy” himself…Aaron fuckin’ Judge. And what did he do? THIS.

 

JUDGEMENT DAY! WHAT A GUY, WHAT A GUY!

A 2-run bomb in the top of the 13th to break the 0-0 tie. Finally!

 

Oh, and this kid was AMAZING! Every single Judge at-bat, the camera panned to this little Judge fan. He was desperate for a homer from our guy – and he stuck it out, inning after inning, until the 13th.

Finally, #99 delivered and made this kid’s night. What a moment.

To add a little more insult to the Blue Jays’ injury, Giancarlo “The Terminator” Stanton decided to join Aaron in the home run party. And he hit an absolute MISSILE. 119.3 miles per hour. I’m not the biggest Statcast guy, but that is ridiculous.

Hardest home run this year. Check it out

 

Holy shiitake mushrooms. Damnit, now I’m hungry. Shiitake mushrooms go great with a nice Hibachi dinner. Some chicken, fried rice, mushro-

Oops, sorry guys. I let my mind wander a bit there. But yeah, that Giancarlo Smash was pretty damn cool to see. A line drive ROCKET.

Okay, 13 innings of no scoring and we finally got some runs. Let’s put a nail in this one and head back to NYC! Time for Chappie…

But, in Classic Chappie fashion, he needed to get a baserunner on. But, was it really ever in doubt? That’s just Chapman being Chapman

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Exactly, Tony! What are ya gonna do? You just gotta accept the craziness that is a Chapman save situation.

After giving up that double with one out, he struck out Pillar and then Martin grounded out. BOOM. 2 GAME SWEEP!

And it only took 13 innings! WOOO

Great win, longggg game. But I’ll take it.

We were off last night and now we have a semi-home series in Queens against those bums who share a city with us.

Time to beat up on the Mets this weekend!

LET’S GO YANKS

Follow me on Twitter @JohnFerraro_

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