Yankees Split Against Red Sox in an Entertaining Four Game Set at Fenway
The New York Yankees headed to Fenway Park for the first time this season to face off against the Boston Red Sox in a four game set. Gerrit Cole took the ball in game one. This was Cole’s first start at Fenway Park since the Wild Card Game debacle last season. Cole looked to flip the narrative that he struggles against the Red Sox and especially at Fenway Park. The Yankees gave Cole a nice cushion in the third inning when Josh Donaldson hit a grand slam. Aaron Hicks followed up Donaldson’s slam with a solo shot of his own. The back to back jacks made this a 5-0 game in the third. The Red Sox grabbed two of those runs back in the bottom of the third when Rafael Devers smoked a two run home run as he continues to have Cole’s number. In the top of the fifth the Yankees made it 6-2 when Jose Trevino hit an infield pop up, and miscommunication from the Boston infield allowed the ball to drop as a run scored. In the bottom of the fifth Rafael Devers came up in another big spot. He got the best of Cole yet again as he hit a three run home run to make it a 6-5 game. Gerrit Cole’s night ended after six innings with five earned runs. Cole was solid in this one except for Rafael Devers who owns Cole. Devers at bats made this a rough outing for Cole as Fenway Park continues to be a house of horrors for Gerrit Cole. Wandy Peralta came in and threw 1.1 marvelous innings out of the pen. Michael King came in and got two huge outs, and Clay Holmes came in for the save in the ninth. Holmes continued to be nails, and he locked it down in the ninth to secure this 6-5 win for the Yankees. The Yanks grab game one thanks to a tremendous performance from the Yankee bullpen.
The Yankees got off to a hot start in game two. Gleyber Torres ripped an RBI single in the first to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead. Josh Donaldson followed that up with a three run blast to make it 4-0. Donaldson is really heating up which is huge for this team since other guys like Judge and Stanton are slumping a little bit. Nestor Cortes Jr got the ball for the Yankees in this one. The Red Sox got to Nestor in the bottom of the first when Christian Vasquez hit a two run double to make it a 4-2 game. The Yanks added to their lead in the second with an RBI double by Matt Carpenter. The Yankees blew it open in the third when Joey Gallo came up with two runners on. Gallo hit a high fly ball to right field. Christian Arroyo could not see the ball. The ball ended up dropping in the outfield and two runs scored. Gallo tried for the in the park home run but was thrown out at the plate. It became 8-2 in the fourth when Matt Carpenter hit a solo home run as he continues to rip the cover off the baseball. Later that inning Donaldson stole third and advanced home to score on a throwing error to make it 9-2. Trevor Story clipped Cortes for a solo shot in the fourth to make it 9-3. Later that inning Bobby Dalbec also hit a solo shot to make it 9-4. Nestor Cortes Jr was pulled with two outs and two runners on in the fourth. Nestor struggled in this outing, and he has come back down to earth a bit. Nestor threw 3.2 innings with four earned runs. Miguel Castro came on to get the Yankees out of the jam. Castro walked the first batter he faced, but he did pick up a big strikeout to get the Yanks out of the jam. Castro threw 1.1 innings before being pulled. Albert Abreu came on in the sixth, and he gave up an RBI ground ball to Xander Bogaerts to make it 9-5. The Yanks scored their tenth run on an RBI bunt from Marwin Gonzalez in the seventh. In the eighth Gleyber Torres smoked an RBI double off the top of the wall to make it 11-5, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa made it 12-5 in the ninth on an RBI walk. Lucas Leutge was great out of the bullpen for the Yanks. He tossed 3.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts to close the game out for the Yanks. The Yankees grabbed the first two games of the series to secure at least a series split.
Jordan Montgomery toed the slab at Fenway in game three of the series. The Red Sox scored first when Bobby Dalbec hit an RBI single in the second inning to make it 1-0. The Yankees tied it up in the fifth when Aaron Hicks hit a game tying home run. The Yankees took the lead in the sixth with an RBI double from Anthony Rizzo to make it 2-1, and Josh Donaldson then hit an RBI single to make it 3-1. In the bottom of the sixth Rob Refsnyder crushed a solo home run off Monty to make it 3-2. Monty was pulled after 5.2 innings with two earned runs. Montgomery turned in a solid outing, but he was getting barrelled up all night long. He was somewhat lucky that he only gave up two runs. Michael King came on and two innings out of the pen. He left with a runner on second. Clay Holmes came on to get the four out save. In the eighth Alex Verdugo grounded a ball through the vacant spot at shortstop to tie the game. Holmes then threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning to keep the game tied and send it to extras. In the top of the tenth Aaron Judge ripped an RBI double in the gap to take a 4-3 lead. Anthony Rizzo followed that up with another RBI double to make it 5-3. Wandy Peralta came on for the Yanks in the tenth. He gave up an RBI single to Jeter Downs to make it 5-4. A ground ball was hit to Josh Donalson. It was a tailor made game ending double play, but Donaldson bobbled it and only was able to record one out. Then Alex Verdugo came up with runners on second and third. Verdugo hit a two run single to walk it off in the tenth. The Yankees dropped game three of the series by a score of 6-5.
Jameson Taillon got the start in the final game of the four game set against the Red Sox. The Yankees are looking to win the series, and the Sox are looking for the split. The Yankees gave Jamo an early 2-0 lead from a two run homer by Giancarlo Stanton who is a legit Red Sox killer. Jose Trevino made it 3-0 in the second when he ripped an RBI single but was thrown out while going for a double. Isaiah Kiner Falefa made it 4-0 later that inning with an RBI single. The Sox grabbed two of those runs back in the second off of a two run home run by Franchy Cordero. The Yankees got those two runs back in the third when Matt Carpenter hit yet another homer run to make it 6-2. Matt Carpenter has been truly amazing since he put on a Yankee uniform, and I think it’s safe to say that his performance is not a fluke. Carpenter should be playing every day for this team. In the bottom of the third Taillon gave up a solo homer to Christian Vazquez to make it 6-3. In the fifth Christian Vazquez hit an RBI double to make it 6-4. Later that inning J.D Martinez hit a game tying two run homer off Taillon.
Taillon was pulled after five innings with six earned runs. Taillon has pitched awfully lately, and this game was no different. Taillon will need to start throwing the ball like he was at the start of the season very soon. Aroldis Chapman came on for the Yankees in the sixth. The leadoff batter reached when DJ Lemahieu dropped a pop up. DJ called off Judge and almost made the difficult play, but the ball was dropped. Chapman then walked two batters to load the bases. Jeter Downs then hit a pop fly. DJ called off the outfielders yet again and dropped the ball again. A run scored on the play.It was another difficult play, but it was a play that DJ should make. Aaron Hicks also should have called off DJ and took the ball himself. Nevertheless the sloppy defense bit the Yankees in this inning. The Yanks escaped the inning having just given up one run. Miguel Castro came on in the seventh. Castro was atrocious. He gave up a three run double to Trevor Story and was pulled without recording an out.
The Yankees now trailed 10-6. Albert Abreu came on for the Yanks. Franchy Cordero sac bunted, and Abreu hit Cordero with the throw to first allowing another run to score making it 11-6. Abreu threw the seventh and eighth innings for the Yanks. The Yankees were shut down by the Red Sox bullpen. The Yanks dropped this game by a score of 11-6. This might have been the worst game of the season for the Yanks. They do manage to pick up a split against the Red Sox, but they leave with a bad taste in their mouths after dropping the last two games in horrible fashion. The Yankees will now head back to the Bronx and face off against the Cincinnati Reds in a three game set before the Red Sox come to New York to play the Yankees again.
By : Riley Briggs