After dominating the New York Yankees in the first two games of this weekend’s series, the Red Sox found themselves in a heated tug of war on Sunday.
Boston emerged from battle with a 6-5 victory and their second sweep of their rivals this year.
“That was a fantastic game by everyone,” Justin Turner said.
Well, almost everyone. Until the very end, the series finale was up for grabs, thanks to some clutch hits, risky pitching, and horrendous umpiring. It took a true team effort to leave the Bronx with a win.
The Red Sox lost three leads in the first seven innings, the Yankees answering each time with a home run.
When Rafael Devers put Boston on the board in the first with a 1-out home run, Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka tied things up with his own solo homer in the bottom of the third.
Devers’ leadoff double in the top of the sixth became the go-ahead run when Masataka Yoshida ground into a force out that should’ve been a routine double play. Instead, rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe made a throwing error, and Devers raced home with uncharacteristic speed.
Gleyber Torres retaliated with a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the inning.
This time, the Red Sox bounced back immediately. Reese McGuire led off the seventh with a walk and advanced to second on Pablo Reyes’ sacrifice bunt. Connor Wong replaced his fellow catcher as the pinch-runner. After getting Alex Verdugo to pop up for the second out, King intentionally walked Devers.
Of course, that left the Yankees righty to face Justin Turner. For the umpteenth time this season, the veteran slugger came up clutch, walloping his 20th homer to put the Red Sox up 5-2.
For the first time in the contest, the Red Sox had more than a 1-run lead. But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the cushion was gone.
John Schreiber took over for Nick Pivetta in the bottom of the seventh, and gave up a leadoff single, walk, and 3-run, game-retying homer to Volpe. The usually-steady Red Sox reliever issued another walk before getting the first two outs in the inning, then a third walk before finally getting out of the frame.
Having already fought back three times, the Yankees decided to go on the offensive. With Chris Martin on the mound for the eighth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off with a single, then stood on first while the reliable right-hander got the next two batters out. When Volpe singled to deep left and Rob Refsnyder slipped a bit on the grass going for the ball, Kiner-Falefa raced home, trying to beat the throw to the plate.
Connor Wong moved into position to receive the ball. He blocked the plate, but within the official parameters. According to MLB, “The catcher is not permitted to block the runner’s path to the plate unless he is in possession of the ball, though blocking the path of the runner in a legitimate attempt to receive a throw is not considered a violation.”
Initially, Valentine called the Yankees’ third baseman safe at home. The Red Sox challenged, The Yankees countered with a challenge of their own, claiming catcher’s interference.
After a lengthy review, things miraculously broke Boston’s way in each challenge. Kiner-Falefa was out at home, and Wong hadn’t interfered.
Thus, the rivals headed into the ninth inning still tied.
Pablo Reyes led off with a single, then stole second base. Verdugo drew a walk, then found himself out at second when Devers ground into a force out.
With his teammates on the corners, Turner again provided the big hit. His 26th double of the year soared deep to the right field corner, bringing Reyes home for their fourth lead.
That’s how the Red Sox entered the bottom of the ninth, clinging to their third one-run advantage of the contest.
There’d been opportunities to capitalize further, but as is too often the case in baseball, the umpires got in the way.
All day, home-plate ump Junior Valentine fueled the chaos, making some of the worst calls in recent memory. In one particularly egregious instance, he declared Ball 1 on a pitch so clearly in the heart of the zone that Harrison Bader was already walking off, thinking he’d struck out.
After Devers scored in the sixth, Jarren Duran singled, advancing Yoshida to second, and Trevor Story stepped up to bat, looking for his first hit of the series. He saw six pitches from Yankees reliever Michael King. The first two were clearly out of the zone, and Valentine gifted Story a third on what should’ve been a strike.
With a 3-0 count, it looked like Story had a chance to load the bases. Instead, Valentine called the fourth pitch and sixth pitches (Story swung at the fifth) strikes and the inning was over. When he began having words with the umpire, Alex Cora finally came out to protect his player and speak his own piece. Rightfully so, as those two called strikes were decidedly below the zone. The electronic strike zone (Automated Ball-Strike System) and challenge protocol testing in the minor leagues can’t come soon enough. In the meantime, though, Cora earned himself an ejection, and Ramon Vázquez took over the managerial duties.
“There’s a lot of stuff that I didn’t agree with Junior today, besides the strike zone,” Cora explained, mentioning the Kiner-Falefa play at home. “We knew he was out from the get-go.”
“We’re grinding here,” Cora told MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “For us, every [expletive] pitch counts. We’re not gonna give up. We’re gonna keep playing. If I get fined, I get fined. But we didn’t agree with the [expletive] strike zone today.”
With Vázquez managing and a 1-run lead to protect, Kenley Jansen took over.
The veteran closer has been lights-out on the road all year, but the bottom of the ninth swung dangerously close to a Yankees win. Greg Allen, who began the year in the Red Sox minor leagues, led off with a double off the very top of the right field wall. It was so close to being a home run that the umpires decided to review it.
With the call upheld, Jansen resumed his work by hitting DJ LeMahieu with a pitch. Just like that, he’d put two on, no out for Aaron Judge, who’d homered in each of the previous two games. He and Judge had never squared off before, either.
With almost any other pitcher on the mound, the Yankees would’ve walked it off easily. Instead, Jansen rose to the occasion and cleaned up his own mess. He needed three pitches to get Judge to strike out looking, four to get Torres swinging, and another four to get Ben Rortvedt to fly out for the win.
There are too many heroes to count in this game.
This was Reyes’ seventh multi-hit game of the month, and Duran became the first player in franchise history to steal as many as 24 bases in their first 102 games of the season. Wong’s defense and quick-thinking at home plate were instrumental.
Devers’ home run was his 29th of the year and the 23rd of his regular-season career against the Yankees. He’s the fourth player in franchise history (Mookie Betts, Jim Rice, Ted Williams) with as many as three 29-homer seasons before turning 27. He also finished the game with three hits, making him the first Red Sox player with three consecutive 3-hit games in a single Yankees series since Dustin Pedroia in April 2011.
Turner had the first 4-RBI game by a Red Sox hitter at Yankee Stadium since 2018, and is the first Red Sox hitter aged 38 or older to have a 20-homer season since David Ortiz’s final year.
“I don’t care about all that stuff, I’m just glad I could help the team win,” Turner told NESN’s Jahmai Webster.
Hearing that he’s only the fifth player in franchise history to make it happen, joining a group that includes Ortiz and Ted Williams, Turner changed his tune. “Okay, I like being with those names,” he said with a chuckle.
“It was amazing,” Cora said of Turner’s performance. “He’s grinding right now.”
Due to a heel injury, Turner spent most of his recent games as the designated hitter, but with Triston Casas out Saturday and Sunday due to a tooth infection, Turner told his manager he’d do what it takes.
“I texted him this morning, and he’s like, ‘I’m good bro, I’ll play,’ and for him to go out there and just play for us, it means a lot,” Cora said. “He’s a great leader and I’m glad he’s playing for us.”
This win is the kind of momentum the Red Sox need as they head into arguably their most stressful stretch of the season. Their next 10 games are against the Astros in Houston (4), followed by a homestand with the Los Angeles Dodgers (3), and Astros again (3).