Brian Johnson (4-5, 4.17 ERA) took the mound in the top of the first and started out well. McCutchen lined out to third to begin before Aaron Judge flied out to right to end the inning. Aaron Hicks popped up to first to end the inning. JA Happ got the start for New York and he froze Mr. Mookie Betts for strike three to start. Andrew Benintendi whiffed before JD Martinez flied out to left to end the inning.
Johnson got Giancarlo Stanton to fly out to center to begin the top of the second but walked Luke Voit. Didi Gregorius beat out a double play ball but Miguel Andujar lined out to right to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to begin. Steve Pearce looked at strike three and Rafael Devers flied out to center to end the inning.
The Yankees struck first in the top of the third inning when Gary Sanchez crushed a 50,000 foot moonshot to give the Yankees the lead. Johnson recovered to get both Gleyber Torres and McCutchen to strike out swinging before Judge walked. Hicks and Stanton stroked back to back singles to score Judge with another run. Voit flied out to right to end the inning with the Yankees up 2-0.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third as Eduardo Nunez grounded out to second to start before Ian Kinsler lined out to left. Blake Swihart whiffed to end the inning.
Sox manager Alex Cora waived the white flag early as he sent William Cuevas to take a beating in the top of the fourth inning. Gregorius lined out to center but Andujar doubled. Second base umpire Andy Fletcher keeled over and had to be hauled off on a gurney as Sanchez walked. Torres doubled home both runners and McCutchen singled him home. Judge singled and Hicks smashed a 400,000 foot bomb to ice the game. Stanton singled and FINALLY Cora removed the stunned Cuevas. As good as William was against Cleveland, he was that bad tonight. Heath Hembree came in and got Voit and Gregorius to fly out to right to end the inning but it was 8-0 Yankees.
The Sox tried to fight back when Mr. Mookie singled to open the bottom of the fourth and Benintendi walked. They were stranded as Martinez flied out to right, Bogaerts whiffed and Pearce grounded into a force to end the inning.
Drew Pomeranz strolled to the mound to begin the top of the fifth and Andujar lined out to first to begin. Sanchez whiffed and Torres grounded out to short to end the inning. Rafael Devers grounded out to short to begin the bottom of the fifth before Nunez grounded out to first and Kinsler looked at strike three to end the inning.
Pomeranz returned for the top of the sixth inning and got McCutchen to ground out to third to begin. Judge and Hicks both watched strike three go by to end the inning. The Sox finally rallied against Happ in the bottom of the sixth although Swihart whiffed to start. Mr. Mookie singled and Benintendi doubled him to third. Martinez popped up to first but Bogaerts walked to load the bases. Pearce cleared the bases with a grand slam into the Monster Seats to cut the lead in half. Devers grounded out to short but the Sox were back in it 8-4.
Just as the soon as the Sox inched closer Pomeranz reared his head and ruined it in the top of the seventh. Stanton whiffed but Voit crushed a 9,000 foot bomb to kill off the momentum. Gregorius singled and Andujar walked to chase Pomeranz. Joe Kelly came in and got a grounder to short by Sanchez...but Xander booted it and Gregorius scored another run. Kelly punched out Torres and got McCutchen to ground into a force to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 10-4.
Chad Green replaced Happ for the bottom of the seventh as Nunez lined out to center to start. Kinsler flied out to right before Swihart whiffed to end the inning.
Bobby Poyner came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Judge greeted him with a 800 foot home run to increase the lead. Hicks flied out to right, Stanton flied out to right and Voit whiffed to end the inning but it was 11-4 Yankees.
The Sox tagged Dellin Betances in the bottom of the eighth inning as Mr. Mookie walked to start. Benintendi whiffed but Martinez singled. Bogaerts popped up to third but Pearce singled home Betts. Devers walked but Nunez lined out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 11-5.
Tzu-Wei Lin took over for Martinez in the batting order but moved to center with Betts moving to right as the top of the ninth inning began. Gregorius lined out to right before Andujar popped up to first. Sanchez doubled but Torres whiffed to end the inning. Zach Britton came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and the Sox tagged him. Kinsler walked and Sam Travis pinch hit for Swihart only to erase Kinsler at second with a force. Mr. Mookie hit a routine grounder to short but Gregorius threw the ball away. Benintendi lined out to short before Christian Vazquez pinch hit for Lin, drawing a walk to load the bases. Bogaerts drew a bases loaded walk to drive in Travis. Instead of another grand slam, this time Pearce grounded out to third to end the game. The Yankees had won 11-6.
Jackass of the Night is William Cuevas. He allowed 6 runs in just 1/3 of an inning putting a Sox in too big of a hole to climb out of.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Christian Vazquez walked as a pinch hitter.
Steve Pearce was 2 for 5 with 5 total rbis including a grand slam.
Heath Hembree got the final two outs of the 4th inning.
Joe Kelly got the final two outs of the sixth.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with an error but walked twice, drove in a run and scored.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 but walked.
Ian Kinsler was 0 for 3 but walked.
Sam Travis was 0 for 1 but scored a run.
Brian Johnson took the loss allowing just 2 runs in 3 innings of work.
Drew Pomeranz gave up 2 runs, 1 earned in 2 1/3 innings of work.
Bobby Poyner allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Honorable Mention:
Tzu-Wei Lin played centerfield in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Unlike the Baltimore game, this game had more positives than there were negatives. Its no secret that neither William Cuevas or Drew Pomeranz will sniff the post-season roster, so for those two to give up 8 runs isn't going to matter next week. Its debateable if Poyner or Johnson make the roster as well. The fact the Sox were able to tag not only Happ but Betances and Britton as well is encouraging when the games start to matter. This game meant a hell of a lot more to the Yankees than it did to the Red Sox who are just trying to keep everybody healthy at this point. Yankee fans can dance around saying this is a Game 1 preview (already arrogantly believing the wild card game is in the bag) but Chris Sale is no William Cuevas. Thankfully the regular season is coming to a close and the next tuneup is tomorrow afternoon. Nathan Eovaldi (6-7) gets the start for the Red Sox opposite Domingo Germain at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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