Before the season started, New York Yankee fans were laughing at the Boston Red Sox fans for the sheer dominance of the Yankees over the Sox the past two seasons. Now its the Sox fans laughing as the Sox have beaten the Yankees in all six games they've played against each other this season, including today's game. Eduardo Rodriguez (6-4, 5.83 ERA) won his first game in almost two months by holding the once deadly Yankee offense to just 2 runs in 6 innings. The Sox made mincemeat out of Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Yankees bullpen by clocking 4 home runs and putting 9 runs on the board. Kike Hernandez hit the first pitch of the game for a home run and four batters later Rafael Devers hit a 3 run bomb to effectively end it. JD Martinez and Christian Vazquez also went yard as Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock escaped a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning. Even better news was the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the LA Angels to put the Sox back into first place. The Sox have beaten the Yankees in all three phases of the game as Bill Belichick would say and swept them out of Fenway Park with a 9-2 win.
Rodriguez got the ball in the top of the first inning and DJ LeMahieu lined out to right to start. Aaron Judge grounded out to first and Luke Voit took strike three to end the inning. The Sox bushwhacked Cole in the bottom of the first inning as Kike Hernandez led off with his seventh home run of the year on the first pitch of the game to give the Sox the lead. Alex Verdugo doubled to center and JD Martinez walked before both moved over on the fly ball to right by Xander Bogaerts. Rafael Devers shocked everyone by crushing his 19th home run of the season to increase the lead. Hunter Renfroe flied out to right but Christian Vazquez singled to center. A wild pitch moved Vazquez to second but Marwin Gonzalez lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging to start the top of the second. Gio Urshela grounded out to third but Gleyber Torres hit a bullet off the Monster. Miguel Andujar lined out to left to end the inning. Cole settled down in the bottom of the second as Danny Santana struck out swinging to start. Hernandez flied out to center and Verdugo went down hacking to end the inning.
Clint Frazier grounded out to third to start the top of the third but Kyle Higashioka lined one up the middle for a base hit. LeMahieu also lined a base hit to center but Judge took strike three. Gonzalez made a great diving stab to rob Voit of a hit to end the inning with Rodriguez up to 56 pitches. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third when Martinez clobbered his 15th home run of the season to increase the lead. Bogaerts hit a routine grounder to Torres who threw the ball away for an error. Bogaerts ended up on second and he moved to third on the Devers grounder to Voit. Renfroe walked to put runners at the corners and Vazquez hit a fly ball to right. Frazier threw home to nail Bogaerts but it bounced off the mound to allow Xander to score. Gonzalez took strike three to end the inning with the Sox up 6-0.
Rodriguez responded by striking out Stanton swinging to start the top of the fourth. Urshela went down hacking but Torres hit one off the ass off Rodriguez. Rodriguez waived off Santana to field the ball and threw to him to end the inning....but wait! Yankees manager Aaron Boone challenged the call but the umpires upheld the call to end the inning. Santana reached on an error by Torres to start the bottom of the fourth but Hernandez flied out to center. Verdugo took strike three but Santana swiped second. Martinez lined out to right to end the inning.
Rodriguez cruised in the top of the fifth as Andujar flied out to right to start. Frazier took strike three and Higashioka watched strike three go by to end the inning. Bogaerts flied out to left to start the bottom of the fifth before Devers singled to center. Renfroe and Vazquez both took strike three to end the inning.
The Yankees began their comeback in the top of the sixth as LeMahieu ripped a base hit to left to start. Judge hit a home run all the way to the Czech Republic to cut the lead. Voit struck out swinging, Renfroe made a tumbling catch to rob Stanton of a bloop single and Urshela grounded out to short to end the inning with the Yankees up 6-2. That was it for Rodriguez who pitched his best game in over a month by allowing just 2 runs in 6 innings while striking out 8.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone pulled Cole in favor of Luis Cessa to start the bottom of the sixth and Gonzalez grounded out to short to start. Santana grounded out to LeMahieu and Hernandez popped up to Voit in foul territory to end the inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Torres took strike three to start. Andujar walked and Frazier blooped a single to center. That was it for Hernandez as Sox manager Alex Cora went to The A-Team to finish the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch and Gary Sanchez pinch hit for Higashioka. Naturally Sanchez walked to load the bases but LeMahieu took strike three on the outside corner. With the bases loaded...Judge popped up to Santana in shallow right to end the inning. Verdugo swung on a 3-0 count only to ground out to first to start the bottom of the seventh. Martinez flied out to Frazier but Bogaerts doubled down the left field corner. Devers also singled down the left field corner to score Bogaerts with another run. Renfroe grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-2.
Whitlock returned for the top of the eighth and naturally Voit singled to right to start. Stanton struck out swinging on a slider low and away and Urshela banged into a double play to end the inning. Sox radio broadacaster Joe Castiglione said Urshela was not a happy fella. Brooks Kriske came on to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Vazquez greeted him with his fourth home run of the season into the Monster Seats to increase the lead. Gonzalez was plunked and Santana singled to right. Gonzalez made it to third but Santana was thrown out at second. Hernandez hit an oopsie check swing double down the right field line to score Gonzalez with another run. Hernandez moved to third on the grounder by Verdugo to second but Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-2.
With such a big lead, Cora told the rest of A-Team to take the day off and birthday boy Yacksel Rios was brought in to mop up the top of the ninth. Torres struck out swinging to start before Andujar grounded back to the mound. Frazier walked and took second on defensive indifference, but Sanchez went down hacking to end the game. The Sox had swept the Yankees out of Fenway with a 9-2 win.
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. He knocked in four runs including a 3 run homer to put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis including a solo home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with 2 total rbis and a solo home run.
Danny Santana was 2 for 4 with a stolen base.
Eduardo Rodriguez got his first win in a month by pitching 6 innings of 2 run ball while striking out 8.
Garrett Whitlock tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Yacksel Rios pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
None.
The Ugly:
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for with a strikeout but walked, hit a home run and scored 2 total runs.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Darwinzon Hernandez only retired one of the three men he faced.
Final Thoughts:
Its only June but the Yankees are reeling big time. If it wasn't for the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins the Yankees would be a sub .500 team. The Sox have dominated the season series so far and its been the complete opposite of last season. Its unreal how everyone on the Yankees offense is having their worst season all at once. As for the Sox, its nice to see the longballs make a comeback, especially from Devers and Martinez. Martinez usually puts up homers in bunches so this is a great time for him to get hot with the Sox right there with the Rays for the division lead. Rodriguez finally looked good for the first time in a month and The Lock continues to torture the Yankees by pitching his way out of high pressure jams against the New York's best hitters. Yankee fans can say letting Adam Ottavino go was the right thing to do considering the year he had last year and his age but they can't possibly excuse Brian Cashman for leaving Whitlock unprotected in the rule 5 draft. He throws a 97 mph fastball with a 95 mph sinker very accurately. The Sox are putting together the puzzle to get them over the hump in the AL East and its only a matter of time before they get their final two pieces, Chris Sale and Jarren Duran. Duran is lighting it up in Worcester and if Danny Santana can't pick up the pace, Durran will get a shot to prove he can be the next Jacoby Ellsbury. Sale has begun throwing to live hitters and it could be just about a month before he's ready. That's bad news for the AL East if the Sox are anywhere close to Tampa by then. As for this game, good work by Rodriguez, Whitlock and Rios to keep the Yankees off the board. As mentioned in the beginning, the LA Angels came back to beat the Rays so the win improved the Sox to 47-31, 1/2 game in front of the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox now welcome the Kansas City Royals to Fenway Park who took 2 out of 3 from the Sox and Yankees last week. Tomorrow night Garrett Richards (4-5, 4.74 ERA) takes on Royals ace Danny Duffy at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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