Sabathia took the mound in the top of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him with a ground rule double to begin. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to first to advance Betts to third and Hanley Ramirez scored him with a ground out to first as well. JD Martinez struck out to end the inning but the Sox were up 1-0.
Rodriguez started off the bottom of the first by getting Brett Gardner to fly out to left. Aaron Judge walked but Didi Gregorius flied out to left. Giancarlo Stanton grounded out to short to end the inning.
Yankee luck occurred in the top of the second inning although Sabathia struck out Xander Bogaerts to start. Mitch Moreland whiffed but Eduardo Nunez and Rafael Devers stroked back to back singles. Christian Vazquez beat out an infield single to load the bases....BUT WAIT! Yankees manager Aaron Boone challenged the call and Yankees manag....err head of MLB Operations quickly ruled he was out to end the inning. Rodriguez made quick work of the Yankees in the bottom of the second as Gary Sanchez grounded out to short, Tyler Austin watched strike three go by and Miguel Andujar also looked at strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third inning when Mr. Mookie singled to start. Benintendi doubled Betts to third and Ramirez singled in Mookie to increase the lead. Ramirez was erased at second on a force by Martinez to score Benintendi. Bogaerts singled but Moreland struck out. Nunez grounded out to end the inning but it was 3-0 Sox.
Rodriguez turned up the heat in the bottom of the third when he struck out Gleyber Torres, Ronald Torreyes and Gardner in short order.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth inning as Devers grounded out to second to start. Vazquez grounded out to second but Mr. Mookie beat out an infield single. Betts swiped second but Benintendi whiffed to end the inning. Rodriguez almost imploded in the bottom of the fourth inning. Judge drew a leadoff walk but Gregorius popped up. Devers couldn't control a lined drive by Stanton for a base hit and Sanchez walked to load the bases. Somehow he caught Austin looking for strike three and got Andujar to fly out to center to end the inning.
The Sox looked to be in complete control when Ramirez launched a bomb to left to increase the lead but then the rains came. The rain knocked Sabathia out of the game as Jonathan Holder came in when action resumed. Martinez grounded out to short, Bogaerts looked at strike three and Moreland grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Rodriguez came back just to get credit for a win and he struck out both Torres and Torreyes to open the bottom of the fifth inning. Gardner grounded back to the mound to end the inning. This was one of Eduardo's best starts of the year and it was a damn shame it had to rain. He went 5 innings, allowed no runs and struck out 8.
Holder returned for the top of the sixth inning and the Sox did nothing. Nunez flied out to right, Devers whiffed and Vazquez flied out to center to end the inning. Matt Barnes had a bounce back inning in the bottom of the sixth although he walked Judge to start. Gregorius lined out to left, Stanton popped up to short and Sanchez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Dellin Betances came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Mr. Mookie flied out to right to begin. Benintendi grounded out to second Ramirez looked at strike three to end the inning. For the third time in the last 3 games, the Yankees exploded to knock around the Sox. Heath Hembree took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and threw up all over himself. Austin flied out to right but Andujar singled. Torres singled Andujar to third and Neil Walker pinch hit for Torreyes only to walk to load the bases. "Machine Gun" Joe Kelly (2-0, 2.60 ERA) came in to stop the bleeding but instead poured gas on the fire. Gardner walked to drive in a run, Judge singled in Torres and Gregorius beat out a double play ball to score another. All Kelly needed was one more out but naturally he uncorked a wild pitch to score Walker as the crowd exploded. Stanton grounded out to first to end the inning but the Yankees had tied it and the crowd was deafening.
Just as soon as the Yankees tied the game and woke up the crowd, Martinez shut them up. Taking advantage of the short porch in right, JD led off the top of the eighth with a blast to right to put the Sox back on top. Bogaerts whiffed, Moreland grounded out to first and Nunez whiffed to end the inning but the Sox had took the lead 5-4.
Kelly returned for the bottom of the eighth and naturally walked Sanchez. Somehow he got Austin to fly out to left before striking out Andujar. Torres singled as the crowd went nuts again expecting another rally...but Kelly got the last laugh when he punched out Walker to end the inning.
Chasen Shreve got the call for the top of the ninth and Devers lined out to left to start. Vazquez grounded out to third but Mr. Mookie walked. Benintendi whiffed to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel was brought in for the save in the bottom of the ninth and he blew away Gardner to start. Judge flied out to center and Gregorius grounded back to the mound to end the game. The Sox had salvaged the series with a 5-4 win.
Hero of the Night is JD Martinez. After the Sox bullpen crapped themselves again, he picked up the team with a solo home run to decide the game.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 3 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with 3 total rbi's and a home run.
Eduardo Rodriguez allowed just 1 hit in 5 innings while striking out 8.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 10th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4.
Heath Hembree gave up 3 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4.
Joe Kelly got the win but allowed a run and 3 inherited runners to score
Final Thoughts:
Let's get outta here! The red hot Yankees took it to the Sox this series but the Sox will leave New York tied for first and tied 3-3 in the season series. No team is better than the other at this point as both have their faults. The silver lining is that if this is the best team in the league, the Sox should breeze against other teams moving forward. With Baltimore a complete mess and Toronto's offense not what it used to be, the AL East will come down to the Sox or Yankees easily. Tyler Thornberg coming back soon along with Steven Wright could be what the Sox need to go on another hot streak to distance themselves from the Yankees who can't possibly keep winning like this. The win improved the Sox to 26-11, tied for first place with the Yankees in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox continue their road trip in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Chris Sale (3-1, 2.02 ERA) goes up against Aaron Sanchez tomorrow night at 7:07 PM at the Skydome.
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