Boston Red Sox get the doors slammed on them against the Yankees in Game Two

You can call Fenway Park Stanton Island, albeit at the risk of Red Sox fans coming for your throats and flipping the bird in your face.

A 4-run Grand Slam at the top of the eighth inning secured New York’s 5-3 victory in Game 2, their second straight, with one game remaining on Sunday, a game that has so much bearing on the rest of the season.

New Yorkers will refer to this game as the “Boston G Party,” with its main hero being Giancarlo Stanton, having hit the grand slam beyond the walls of the Green Monster and finishing his night with four RBI’s and a 0.275 batting average.

New York has now won five straight head-to-head matchups against Boston, and now both have the same record (88-67) with the first American League wild-card spot on the line.

Both teams could likely meet in the Wild Card game, but the location could change depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game and the rest of the season, for that matter.

Boston did hold a 2-0 lead at one point, with pitcher Nick Pivetta bracing a strong Yankee lineup for 5⅓ innings, registering seven strikeouts. However, Boston’s offense seemed to have thought they were facing Mariano Rivera when instead it was Nestor Cortes on the mound and didn’t provide as much run support as was needed.

The Boston Red Sox’s pitching and lack of offense show its ugly head at the worst possible time.

At 2-1, Boston looked like they had an opportunity to finish the game off and take back control of the series. Hansel Robles had also held his own, as did Tanner Houck, who made a double play that prevented damage. But then came Darwinzon Hernandez, and well, with the bases loaded for Stanton, the rest was history, and the Yankees never looked back.

Bobby Dalbec‘s late homer into the stands may have seemed like a sign of a potential comeback, but in reality, it felt like a Sam Adams beer finally going down and tasting like it was supposed to. In other words, it softened the blow to some avail, but not enough.

Enough with the excuses. The jerseys are back to their standard colors, so you can’t say they had something to do with it. The reality is the lack of consistency has hurt this team, and too much of an analytical approach is what’s hampering the chances of winning.

Time is running out in case anyone forgot, and Boston won’t be in Fenway for the rest of the regular season as they hit the road to Washington and Baltimore.

There is only one chance left to avoid getting swept on their home field with three straight losses. Boston for sure knows what they are up against, but are they going to tackle the challenge? That’s up to them.