This weekend's three-game set in the Bronx served as a classic baseball snapshot of two teams headed in different directions. The Red Sox (36-23 overall, 20-10 away) put an exclamation point on a great few days at Yankee Stadium as they escaped with a 6-5 victory in 10 innings this evening. Down 3-1 in the seventh inning and allowing the tying run in the bottom of the ninth did not deter Boston as they kept grinding until they came away with their third win in a row against the fading Yankees (31-29 overall, 17-16 home) who have lost four straight games and they are 2-8 in their last 10 games which has dropped them into fourth-place in the AL East. For Boston, this exorcised some recent demons in NY as they picked up their first sweep at Yankee Stadium since 2011 and they ended their ugly streak of 12 series losses in a row there.
NY's starting pitcher Domingo German gave them their best outing of the series as he allowed a solo homer to left fielder Alex Verdugo (his 8th of the season) in the first inning but then he settled down to go 5.2 innings, allowing just that one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks. The Red Sox' starting pitcher Garrett Richards (5 IP, 3 ER, 8 hits, 6 Ks, 2 BBs) was not very good but Boston's bullpen (5 other guys) were able to outlast New York's (4 guys). Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez had a two-run double in the first that scored DH Aaron Judge (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks) and shortstop Gleyber Torres (2 hits). Judge's ground out in the fourth inning plated another run for the home team and extended their lead to 3-1.
Second baseman Marwin Gonzalez tied it for the Red Sox with a two-run home run (his 2nd of the season) in the seventh inning that scored right fielder Hunter Renfroe. Boston took back the lead in the following inning as pinch hitter Christian Arroyo scored on Bogaerts' sacrifice fly. Each Red Sox reliever went one inning: Darwinzon Hernandez (2 BBs) had the sixth, former Yankee and Brooklyn native Adam Ottavino (1 BB) pitched the seventh, Josh Taylor struck out two in a scoreless eighth which set closer Matt Barnes up with a 4-3 lead in the ninth. He was working for the third game in a row and that probably played a major factor since he was not lights out as usual. Torres drove in Judge with a clutch RBI double to tie it up at 4-4.
I've said earlier this season that Bogaerts is the best shortstop in MLB but I'll extend that praise even further by calling him one of the top all-around players in baseball. He came through with another huge play: a two-run single in the 10th inning that scored catcher Christian Arroyo and first baseman Bobby Dalbec with the tying and go-ahead runs. Barnes threw 23 pitches in the ninth inning so who the hell did Boston's manager Alex Cora use in the 10th inning to wrap up the sweep? It was Phillips Valdez who allowed a run on an infield single but he also got a key double play and survived to record his first career save in MLB.
Boston returns home in second-place in the AL East-one game behind first-place Tampa Bay (38-23)-with an eight-game homestand about to begin. Before they can play three games with Houston (33-26) and a four-game series against Toronto (30-27), the Red Sox have a makeup date with Miami (25-33) tomorrow night (5:10, NESN). The Marlins are also 2-8 in their last 10 games so Boston hopes to keep them on their recent tailspin as Nick Pivetta (6-1) faces Pablo Lopez (1-3). After a series in Pittsburgh (23-35), Miami has to come here for one more game so hopefully their interest level isn't too high vs. an interleague opponent as they try to avoid a three-game sweep in their last meeting of the season with the Sox (haha assuming that Boston-Miami World Series ain't happening in 2021). Ideally, Boston doesn't get caught looking ahead to its more difficult opponents that they will see later this week.
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