New York Drops Back And Fourth Affair In Opener To Boston At Fenway Park
This will be the second-straight weekend the two American League East rivals have played one another with the home team taking the opener.
The rivalry has been back to its riveting best the last two weekends, and no lead ever feels safe. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
The Yankees and Red Sox traded impressive comebacks in Friday night's series opener, but Boston prevailed with a 9-6 victory that had Fenway Park rocking in the late innings -- and with good reason. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
With the win, the Red Sox opened up a five-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East. This, on the strength of a surge in which manager John Farrell's team has ripped off 13 wins in the last 15 games. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"It's just the tenacity of the group as a whole," said Farrell. "Once we turned into the month of August, the offense has turned it on. It's not anyone guy. There's contributions up and down the lineup." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Last weekend, the Yankees won the opener by roaring back from a 3-0 deficit in the eighth. The Red Sox took the rubber match with a thrilling comeback to take two out of three in the series. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
To return the favor, the Yankees will have to win the next two days. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"It's a tough loss," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Our guys fought really hard to get back in front with the lead and had really good at-bats from a lot of people. It's frustrating, but we'll be back." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez served as catalysts for the Red Sox in this one. Devers smashed a two-run homer against Jordan Montgomery in the second. Vazquez went 3-for-3 with a homer and reached base four times. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"Yeah, it's a big win," said Vazquez. "Every win is big for us. We're trying to expand that lead for first place. We know we're playing good ball here, we're playing well." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
The Yankees caught a break when Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz had to leave his scoreless outing in the top of the fourth inning with back spasms. That created a long night for Boston's bullpen, and New York capitalized with six runs to take a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
With two outs in the seventh, Andrew Benintendi made Moreland's go-ahead hit possible when he laced an RBI single against Kahnle to bring Boston within one. It was the continuation of a monster August for Benintendi, which has coincided with the Red Sox getting equally hot as a team. Benintendi's big hit came on a 1-1 changeup. For the month, the left fielder is hitting .392 with 14 runs, three doubles, five homers and 14 RBIs. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
On a night when the Yankees went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base, a pair of Aaron Judge at-bats loomed large. Judge grounded out to leave the bases loaded after a terrific battle with Joe Kelly in the sixth inning, then got another chance in the seventh after Torreyes' two-run single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch filled the bags again. Addison Reed struck out Judge swinging, marking the 35th consecutive game in which Judge has fanned, and Sanchez lined out softly as New York settled for a four-run frame. It was a big moment for Reed, who squandered a three-run lead in his first rivalry appearance a week ago. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"It was a big opportunity and A.R. handled it with poise facing a very talented hitter," said Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. "That was big. That was a big momentum shift for us." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"I'd rather have it turn out in a different way," Judge said. "I worked the count, fouled off some tough pitches and they just got the best of me that time." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"We have a lot of faith in one another. We feel like if one person doesn't get the job done, we feel like the next person will. And when you have that faith in each other, you put together some great things." -- Bradley, on Boston's surge "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Devers joined Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only hitters since at least 1913 to homer in consecutive games against the Yankees before the age of 21. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
It turned out the Red Sox had the right guy at the plate in Moreland for what proved to be Friday night's key at-bat. Since the start of the 2014 season, Moreland leads the Majors with a .459 batting average (minimum 40 plate appearances) as a pinch-hitter. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
In the top of the fourth, Didi Gregorius stung a liner to left, but Benintendi got a terrific jump and made a sprawling catch to take a hit away. Statcast™ rated it as a five-star catch, the first of Benintendi's career. Benintendi had a Catch Probability of 14 percent and the Hit Probabilityfor Gregorius was 71 percent. Benintendi needed to cover 41 feet of distance with an opportunity time of three seconds. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
New York and Boston will play game two of their three-game series Saturday. With the loss, New York falls to 65-56 and 5.0 games back of their American League East rival Boston who improved to 70-51 on the season and who is leading the division.
Veteran New York left-hander CC Sabathia will return from a stint on the 10-Day disabled list with a knee injury. Sabathia is expected to come off the disabled to start Saturday's contest at Fenway. He last started on Aug. 8 at Toronto and was limited to three innings by right knee pain. Sabathia had a series of injections in the knee in order to recover. He will take on Boston -left-hander Chris Sale who has a record of 14-4 with a 2.51 earn run average. Despite being dominate 1.19 earn run average in all three of his starts against the Yankees in 2017, Sale is looking for his first rivalry win. Sale has held the Bombers to a 1.88 earn run average in three starts. He is 4-2 with a 1.18 earn run average lifetime against New York. "according to https://www.mlb.com/gameday/yankees-vs-red-sox/2017/08/19/491936#game_state=preview,game_tab=,game=491936
First pitch is set for 7:10 pm. The game will be televised on Major League Baseball Network and Yes.