On the bright side, Wade Miley pitched well. He wasn’t great, but with one of the highest-powered offenses in MLB behind him, any pitcher can expect to win the majority of games in which he only gives up three runs through seven innings. But not yesterday. This is not to say, of course, that Miley was particularly great – there’s a reason his ERA is still 7.15. And the runs scored by the Yankees had Wade’s fingerprints all over them. But credit where credit’s due: this was a good start,  and it certainly helps our bullpen that our starters are finally stretching a little bit. Here’s to more of yesterday and less of April.

Ellsbury singled to lead off, and after Gardner struck out swinging, he stole second during A-Rod’s first at-bat of the day. Unfortunately, I was listening to the radio broadcast in the car, and there’s no video available online, but still…welcome to the big leagues, Blake Swihart. Both Rodriguez and Teixeira grounded out to end the inning and strand Jacoby.

To lead off the third inning, Miley gave up another single, this time to Didi GreGLORIOUS, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. No video of that either, but it’d prove costly, as he was driven in in short order by Brett Gardner, who was himself thrown out at third by a deceivingly lazy Hanley Ramirez relay (remind you of anyone?) to a quick-handed Xander Bogaerts, who flicked it to Pablo for the out.

But still. The run scored, and the Sox found themselves down 1-0. Dustin Pedroia put the situation right in the bottom of the 4th – when will pitchers learn not to give him this pitch? – but he led off the inning, so it was just a solo shot (with a “La Luna!” from Don).

Tie game, 1-1. This inning also featured an inning-ending double play with men on 1st and 2nd by Mike Napoli.

In the top of the 5th, the Yankees came right back and got to Miley for the only time, really, on the night. Chase Headley led off with a double, and Gregorio Petit singled immediately after him, on a high blooper to center field, but Headley was forced to hold midway between 2nd and 3rd to avoid being doubled off. Gregorius, in a tie game with no outs and men on 1st and 2nd, showed bunt on the 1st pitch he got from Miley, who then (fairly inexplicably) gave him an easily buntable ball down the middle of the plate, advancing both runners as Sandoval threw to Napoli for the out at 1st. After a savvy play by Napoli, staring down Headley as he scooped an Ellsbury grounder and tagged 1st base, Brett Gardner hit a two-out single to left. Hanley probably let too much time elapse winding up for the throw home for it to be an effective one, and both runners scored to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

The bottom of the 5th was bereft of an offensive response by the Sox, save for this ugly little poke to the right side of the infield by Swihart for his first major league hit. It was one of three good non-Betances-facing at-bats on the night for the rookie, getting two full counts and a 9-pitch at-bat in the 3rd inning that ended in a strikeout.

The 5th inning also featured a small world moment: a friend of the blog who I was watching the game with, Reeves, saw this Red Sox staffer catch a foul ball cleanly and give it to a kid in the section and yelled, “Oh my God, that’s my friend’s dad!” This was followed by a Facebook check so the group could compare their faces and Reeves texting a video to her friend for verification. And she was right! It was her friend’s dad! Truly, a magical moment. You’re welcome.

Miley would sit down the next six Yankees in order before being lifted as his pitch count crossed the century mark. In the bottom of the 7th, Swihart drew a tough full count walk with two outs, prompting Eovaldi’s removal from the game in favor of feel-good story Chris Martin, and scored from first on a Mookie Betts double that was a couple feet short of clearing the Monster.

But no other Red Sox batter would get to 2nd base after Betts was stranded to end the 7th – after a Hanley Ramirez walk (he was clearly frustrated that he wasn’t given something to hit), 5 consecutive Red Sox struck out to end the game, the last four by a clearly intimidating Dellin Betances to get the save. Swihart struck out looking on three pitches, poor kid, to end the game. By the time the bottom of the 9th rolled around, though, it would’ve taken more than a single run to tie it up anyway: Alexi Ogando gave up a solo home run to Chris Young in the top of the inning to give New York some insurance. 

But enough about that, let’s get to the good stuff: the NFL Draft! It used to be my favorite weekend of bloated nonsense television coverage of the year, and now it’s a somewhat less enjoyable weeknight barrage of bloated nonsense television coverage. Now, I have neither the time nor the inclination to set down all of my amateur thoughts on each of the Patriots’ picks like I have any idea of what I’m talking about, because I don’t. I’m just gonna tell you what I think New England got with each pick in a few words.

• Malcom Brown, DT: Wilfork. Duh. More realistically, a step up athletically over similarly-shaped Wilfork protégés of recent years (Myron Pryor, Sealver Siliga, etc.)
• Jordan Richards, S: Patrick Chung’s new sidekick/competition. Maybe he’ll push Tavon Wilson and Alfonzo Dennard to give a little more, because they’re officially on the bubble (especially Dennard – cutting him makes the most sense financially if he’s not gonna play again, like in 2014). No one would be saying this is too early for him if this was a 3rd round pick, which it basically was.
• Geneo Grissom, DE: Decent pass rushing end. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we need those. No one would be saying this is too early for him if this was a 4th round pick, which it basically was.
• Trey Flowers, DE: Maybe more of a hand in the dirt type of end than Grissom. Think the old Seymour/Warren combo. But don’t, because I don’t want anyone to think he’s as good as those guys based on the opinion of Lefty, an idiot. Besides, he’d need to put on weight for that role anyway. Probably more like Jarvis Green.
• Tre Jackson, G: Big boy, run blocker. Get behind him and move your feet.
• Shaq Mason, C: More interior depth. Probably the clearest sign that Dan Connolly probably isn’t coming back. Can’t have had much experience pass blocking at Georgia Tech. Competition for Stork, who was good, not great as a rookie.
• Joe Cardona, LS: Goodbye, Danny Aiken.
• Matthew Wells, OLB: He’s 6’2″, 222 pounds, plays outside linebacker, runs a 4.4 40-yard dash, and is legally blind in one eye. Your guess is as good as mine.
• A.J. Derby, TE: The next Julian Edelman! More likely he’ll be cut – our late-round tight end picks don’t seem to stick around (Lee Smith, Andy Stokes).
• Darryl Roberts, CB: The next Willie Andrews! The on-field version.
• Xzavier Dickson, DE: The next Tully Banta-Cain! Great name, no confusion on pronunciation.