Boston, MA. – Coming off a hot 16-0 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Yankees won in a tight 6-5 matchup in the first game of the four-game series against the Boston Red Sox, successfully becoming the first team to reach 60 wins this season. With Aaron Judge out of the lineup due to soreness, according to the New York Post, fans were on the edges of their seats, wondering who would keep the winning streak going for the Yankees. An early inning surge was the key to New York’s victory tonight.
Offensive Tango Between New York and Boston
A quick and uneventful first inning was followed by a defense-driven second inning to keep the game scoreless, creating a stark contrast to the top of the third when Josh Donaldson landed the Yankees on the scoreboard with a grand slam, scoring Gleyber Torres, Matt Carpenter, and Giancarlo Stanton. Aaron Hicks followed suit with a solo homer of his own, taking a 5-0 lead before the side was retired. Boston’s Rafael Devers took matters into his own hands with a two-run homer, his fifth home run off starting pitcher Gerrit Cole.
With two out in the top of the fifth inning, Hicks launched a cannon that bounced off the wall for outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to throw but failed to make the play in time, completing a triple. Jose Trevino brought him in after he popped up, but Sox defense mishandled the ball, giving Trevino time to make his RBI a double. In response, Devers scored his second home run of the game, bringing in Franchy Cordero and Kevin Plawecki, cutting the deficit to 6-5.
Bullpen Battle in Middle-to-Late Innings
Starting Red Sox pitcher Josh Winckowski was relieved by left-handed pitcher Matt Strahm after 5.0 innings pitched after throwing nearly 100 pitches this evening. Coming out of the bullpen hot, he had back-to-back K’s in the top of the sixth, doing damage control after the offensive explosion in the third inning from New York. Cole followed up with back-to-back K’s in the bottom of the sixth, showing Fenway that he doesn’t go down easily.
Strahm didn’t last long, as Boston issued a pitching change after just 1.1 innings pitched to bring in John Schreiber, who struck out the next two batters faced to launch the game into the bottom of the seventh. Yankees put in a pitching change of their own by sending Wandy Peralta to the mound to start the bottom of the seventh, to have their own 1-2-3 inning.
After that, it was pitching change after pitching change, both teams looking to minimize any charges from batters. Ultimately, Yankee bullpen came up big tonight, throwing scoreless innings to lock in the win.
The Yankees look to extend their winning streak tomorrow at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass., with first pitch at 7:10 pm.
