Red Sox Prove 2013 is a 'Whole New Ballgame,' Beat Yankees 8-2 in Season Opener

The Red Sox are 1-0 on the 2013 season, beating the New York Yankees 8-2 in Yankee Stadium on Opening Day.

The Red Sox drew eight walks and smacked 13 hits, while Jon Lester and the Sox bullpen held the ailing Yankees to two runs on six hits. Lester went five innings, striking out seven while giving up both runs along with five hits. 

The relief corps combined for four innings of one-hit baseball, with Koji Uehara, Andrew Miller, Andrew Bailey, Junichi Tazawa and Joel Hanrahan taking the hill.  Uehara needed just five pitches to get three outs in the sixth, and Bailey, Tazawa, Miller and Hanrahan hit 95, 96, 97 and 98 miles per hour on the radar gun respectively to shut down the Bronx Bombers.

The Sox hit .333 with runners in scoring position on the day, with stellar performances by Jacoby Ellsbury, Shane Victorino and Jose Iglesias.  Ellsbury went 3-for-6 with a triple and two RBI and Victorino added a couple knocks with three of his ribbies coming while there were two outs in the inning.  All three of Iglesias' hits stayed in the infield, but they'll look like line drives in the box score.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia managed to work three walks against Yankees' pitching, and crossed the plate twice as a result.  The much anticipated debut of Jackie Bradley Jr. saw the 22-year-old follow Saltalamacchia's lead, drawing three walks and knocking home a run as he grounded out to Robinson Cano.  Bradley made his first Major League start in left field Monday, a position he has never played until roughly a week ago in Spring Training, and made a circus grab tracking down a Cano blast just shy of the left field wall.

The Yankees didn't have too many bright spots in their first game of the new campaign, with one of the few coming when Francisco Cervelli slapped a two-run single off Lester in the fourth inning.  C.C. Sabathia gave up four runs on eight hits, but managed to strike out five.

The two teams will play again Wednesday night, and my confidence in this club is growing every day.  The offense looks like they're having fun and the pitching staff has taken on a whole new mentality.  Despite Monday's Yankees not being the team they will be at midseason due to injuries, it always feels good to beat them.  The Red Sox lost their final eight games of 2012, and are off to what looks like a hot start in 2013, crushing a Yankees pitching staff and excelling in all areas of the game.

Go Sox.

Why I Love Sports - Opening Day

The Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers last night in Houston as the baseball season officially got underway, but Monday is the day we've all been waiting for.

Red Sox - Yankees, Dodgers - Giants and Phillies - Braves are just a few of the games on tap for another amazing Opening Day.  Jon Lester will be facing C.C. Sabathia, two of the best left-handers in the game, in Yankee Stadium Monday afternoon.

I have been slowly getting more and more optimistic for this season of Red Sox baseball, and after seeing the lineup and hearing from some of the players, I'm pumped for things to get underway.  A few additions to the pitching staff and a few additions to the offense seemed like trivial things months ago, but when you put everything together and look at the lineup card for today, the Sox are looking good.

Sure, this blog might turn into your typical Boston blog if the team tanks, blasting pitchers for not trying or hitters for going into inexcusable slumps, but right now, its all systems go.  I'm excited to see how this pitching staff can perform, and if they can carry the success they had this spring.  I'm more excited to see how players like Will Middlebrooks and Jackie Bradley Jr. will play right out of the gate for this 113th Opening Day game for the Red Sox.

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If you call yourself a sports fan, then this past weekend, and including Monday, have been jam-packed with awesome sports moments.  Two Connecticut schools have made the Frozen Four in the NCAA men's hockey tournament (Yale and Quinnipiac) and Michigan and Louisville solidified their spots with Wichita State and Syracuse in the NCAA men's basketball Final Four -- Louisville doing so after losing their emotional leader Kevin Ware to an absolutely horrific leg injury.

In the world of NCAA women's basketball, Louisville made waves by knocking off Brittney Griner and the defending champions Baylor to reach the Elite Eight.

The Bruins got back on track, shutting out the Sabres 2-0 in Buffalo, and the Blackhawks exploded for a 7-1 victory in Detroit.  Andy Murray was forced into a tiebreaker by David Ferrer during a nearly three hour three-set match under the hot Miami sun, but came out victorious.  D.A. Points won the Shell Houston Open, his second career victory after failing to make the cut in seven of nine tournaments he started this year, and earned a spot in the field for The Masters.

Here's to another great day of sports, Happy Opening Day, everyone.

Let's Go.

Well, boys and girls, today is the day. Saturday marks the opening day of the 2013 abbreviated NHL season.

NBC has the first game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the in-state rivalry is one of the best ways to start the season.  Following the matinee will be the Boston Bruins hosting the New York Rangers at the TD Garden.  Another game that you should glue yourself to the TV for.

Being a huge Bruins fan, and sitting here writing this in my Adam McQuaid home black and gold jersey, I have to pick them in the game tonight.  Their exit from the postseason at the hands of Joel Ward and the Capitals was inexcusable, and they look like one of the hungriest teams coming into the season.  Bruins win 3-2.

As for the Battle of Pennsylvania?  We may see six or seven goals in this one, with both teams sporting the league's best, namely Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell on the Flyers and Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby for the Pens.  Flyers win 5-3.

Of course those aren't the only games on tap for today.  The Ottawa Senators take on the Winnipeg Jets, while the Chicago Blackhawks take on the defending champion Los Angeles Kings.  The Jets are a strong offense made stronger by picking up the likes of Olli Jokinen and Alexi Ponikarovsky, and they'll need a 100 percent effort to beat all-star defender Erik Karlsson's Senators.  Jets win 3-1.

As for the Kings-Hawks game, the Hawks need to score early to put struggling goaltender Corey Crawford at ease.  The Kings were the eighth seed in last years playoffs and pulled off a great Stanley Cup run, but playoff Kings hockey can be much different than regular season Kings hockey with coach Daryl Sutter tailoring his lines to have just one scoring line up top.  Kings win 3-2 in a shootout.

Those are my top games for opening day, and here are my remaining guesses/predictions.

Toronto at Montreal, Habs win 2-1.

New Jersey at Islanders, Devils win 2-1 in overtime.

Washington at Tampa Bay, Capitals win 5-4.

Carolina at Florida, Hurricanes win 4-2.

Detroit at St Louis, Red Wings win 3-1.

Columbus at Nashville, Predators win 2-0.

Phoenix at Dallas, Coyotes win 4-2.

Colorado at Minnesota, Wild win 5-1.

Anaheim at Vancouver, Canucks suck.

For all the hockey action today, you can check out my Twitter, @JonToddVanDamme, for live updates, fantasy tips and everything else hockey.

Why April Should be for Baseball

 Setting the clocks an hour back and putting away your winter coats means one thing: Spring.  And spring equals baseball season.  So why then, every time I turn on ESPN or ESPN 2, all they are talking about is the NFL Draft?  If I have to see John Gruden's "Quarterback Confessional" or whatever the hell its called one more time, I'm going to lose my mind.

Baseball just started, the season isn't even 20 games old, and already its taking a backseat to football, and with the NBA playoffs around the corner, basketball, too.  I understand that the NFL Draft is coming up, but everyone knows Andrew Luck is going to go with the first pick.  I don't care about seeing Merrill Hodge and Mel Kiper Jr talk about the same stuff day after day, analyzing who the Chargers will pick in the 15th round.  It's a joke.

America's national pastime is baseball.  Fenway Park just celebrated its 100th anniversary, and ESPN feigned interest by talking about it the day of, and that was it.  In any sport, no facility has been around for 100 years, the closest is Wrigley Field at 98 years young.  Opening Day has been in April practically since the dawn of time.  I completely understand that not everyone is a fan of baseball; a lot of people think its too slow or boring, or just don't like the sport.  That's cool, you're an idiot if that's you, but I get it.  But am I being illogical thinking that it should get more attention than a sport that won't play a regular season game until almost five months from now?

Is anyone else as pissed off as I am?  April is for baseball, and I'll allow the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  So why are 35 minutes of Sportscenter devoted to football in the middle of the spring? Thank God I can watch ESPN3 so I can pick and choose my highlights.