By Zachary McMahon –
The Boston Red Sox played the series finale in Fenway against the New York Yankees on
Sunday night baseball. They split the series after the Sox loss on Friday and the win on
Saturday.
Tyler O’Neill did not play for the Sox, so Rob Refsnyder played out in right field, while Jarren Duran played left, and Ceddane Rafaela played in center. Kutter Crawford started for the Sox on the mound as he went six innings, allowed three hits, three earned runs, one walk, and nine strikeouts, which ties his career high from last season.
Marcus Stroman started for the Yankees, going five innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs, four walks, and three strikeouts.
Aaron Judge got the first run for the Yankees on a solo homer in the first inning. However, the Sox grabbed the lead in the second inning on a two-run single by Rafaela off Stroman.
Rafael Devers would knock in the next two runs for the Sox as he hit into a double play in the third, but David Hamliton scored, and then hit a sacrifice fly to center, where Hamliton scored again. The Yankees got to within one with a Jose Trevino home run and Anthony Colpe scoring on a wild pitch from Crawford, while Judge was at bat as it was 4-3 Red Sox.
Brennan Bernadino came in the seventh inning for the Sox and got into a bases loaded jam off singles from Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Statton, and Anthony Rizzo reaching on an error when he collided with Bernadino, and had to be taken out of the game for Oswaldo Cabrera. Alex Cora put in Zack Kelly as he struck out Gleyber Torres and Trevino and lined out D.J. Lemathieu.
After that, the Sox would run away with the score as they scored five runs in the final two
innings, which includes Devers’s third RBI, and a two-run triple by Connor Wong that brought home Devers and Refsnyder in the seventh, and two runs in the eighth. The Sox were also dangerous on the base paths as they racked up nine steals on the night, which is a franchise record.
Hamilton lead the way with four steals of his own, a career high, and he was one away from tying the record that Jacoby Ellsbury set in 2013 against the Philadelphia Phillies. This was also the most steals the Yankees have allowed in a game since 1915.
Duran also had two steals on the night, and Dominic Smith, Bobby Dalbec, and Rafaela
each had one. Former Yankee Greg Weissert closed out the game for the Sox pitching the final two innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts.
The Sox took the series two games out of three with this 9-3 win on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, and they win their second straight series, and go two games above .500 for the first time since the sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays from May 20-22.
The Sox will be traveling north to face the Toronto Blue Jays to play a three-game series from Monday-Wednesday. All three games will have a 7:07 pm first pitch. Monday’s game will have Nick Pivetta going up against Yusei Kikuchi.