The Sox jumped out to a sweet, sweet lead in the first with Wilyer Abreu’s twenty-third home run, a career high.
Jake Bennett went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning and damn it felt good. He did the same in the second. He threw a fantastic game, in fact, keeping the Yankees off-balance and off the board.
Carlos Rodon who, outside of Abreu’s homer, had been extremely steady, unraveled in the fifth inning: a long at-bat to Adley Rutschman, a small tantrum after a passed ball that scored Rutschman, followed by a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Simply put, the Sox tilted him and got to the Yankees’ bullpen early with the bases loaded. Unfortunately, nothing came of it, and the insurance run had to be enough to satisfy…for now. 2-0, Sox.
But this rush to the bullpen could take on more importance in Game 2 of the doubleheader tonight. Yankees manager Aaron Boone used four pitchers by the seventh inning and was pretty liberal with the use of the bench too. We’ll see how fresh the Yankees feel later on.
Garrett Whitlock returned from the IL in the eighth and in the same inning, Rutschman successfully used an ABS challenge to recover a strikeout (he did it again in the ninth too). What began as a tough game for Rutschman ultimately was a triumph: ending his drought at the plate, scoring two runs, and converting those strikeouts.
So many other moments worth mentioning:
- Nick Sogard was unfairly sent back to second base in the fifth inning when the third-base umpire inexplicably called time while the play was still in progress. He was sent back and forth from third to second and back while it was sorted out. He had a nice game.
- Three Yankees let a shallow outfield fly drop among them and it was glorious.
- Yankees fans booed the team and started leaving the stadium. Also glorious.
- The Sox had several defensive hiccups but they had some great defensive plays too.
The Sox took a one-game lead against the Yankees in the season series. This series is the last time they’ll meet in the regular season and for the record, I completely disagree; what is September without the Red Sox/Yankees?
What a win. Stay tuned for tonight!
StudsPitchingJake Bennett was in command today: 6 IP, 3H, 0 BB, 7K. Garrett Whitlock returned, with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and only 13 pitches. Tyron Guerrero and Jovani Moran also did their jobs. No Yankees batters walked.
Erik Miller and Aroldis Chapman remain fresh for Game 2 tonight.
BaserunningLots of heads-up running to capitalize on Yankees passed balls, errors, miscues, falls in the outfield. I love our running game.
Ninth-Inning Pile-OnThe Sox added four runs and we could relax.
DudsI hate to get picky on a day like this but here goes.
Willson ContrerasHe had 3K, though also some nice moments over at first. Tough day at the plate.
Defensive HiccupsA throwing error by Caleb Durbin, and a fielding error by Eli White. Ceddanne Rafaela uncharacteristically misread what looked like an easy fly and allowed it by him (though he recovered quickly from his initial misplay and started a beautiful relay to the plate that erased the runner and kept the Yankees off the board). Adley Rutschman allowed a passed ball in the fifth, and also dropped a foul tip, seemingly while trying to transfer the ball in order to throw it to third (there was no reason for this). This gave the Yankees another bite at the apple but thankfully nothing came of it. A parade of miscues and two actual errors; that’s not usually the Sox brand of ball. This being said, there were some nice scoops at first, and the dramatic recovery to nail the runner at the plate could almost make you forget about the rest (except for the box score, which doesn’t lie). But with a dramatic finish and the W, all is forgiven.
Play of the GameAndrew Monasterio’s single in the ninth drove in two and instantly turned a relatively tight 2-0 game into a shout-out-loud party. The Sox had no outs and went on to score two more in the inning but this was the play that wrapped the game up in a bow.
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