The bad news was the Boston Bruins lost Game 4 of their second round NHL playoff series with the New York Islanders. The good news was the Boston Red Sox rallied past the sliding New York Yankees for their third straight win. The Yankees took a 2-0 lead on Eduardo Rodriguez and the Red Sox when Gleyber Torres hit a 2 run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Sox rallied to take the lead on a Rafael Devers 2 run single and a suddenly hot Marwin Gonzalez double. The Yankees tied it in the bottom of the sixth but the Sox rallied in the top of the eighth with four runs against Chad Green. Brandon Workman got the first two outs of the ninth and Matt Barnes slammed the door to give the Sox a 7-3 win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Yankees starter Jameson Tailon got the ball in the top of the first and Danny Santana popped up to second to start. Alex Verdugo doubled to right but Xander Bogaerts grounded out to third. Rafael Devers lined out to second to end the inning. Rodriguez got the ball in the bottom of the first and DJ LeMahieu grounded out to first to start. Giancarlo Stanton grounded out to short and Aaron Judge also grounded out to short to end the inning.
Hunter Renfroe struck out swinging to start the top of the second inning but Marwin Gonzalez walked. Kike Hernandez popped up to first in foul territory but Christian Vazquez got a base hit to left. Gonzalez went to third but Vazquez was thrown out at second trying to stretch to end the inning. Gio Urshela struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Gleyber Torres went down hacking. Chris Gittens made his Major League debut by grounding out to short to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Bobby Dalbec flied out to right to start. Santana flied out to left and Verdugo grounded out to third to end the inning. Miguel Andujar lined out to center to start the bottom of the third before Gary Sanchez lined out to right. Clint Frazier and LeMahieu stroked back to back singles but Stanton struck out swinging to end the inning.
Bogaerts grounded out to third to start the top of the fourth and Devers flied out to center. Renfroe singled to left but Gonzalez flied out to left to end the inning. The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the fourth as Judge took strike three to start. Urshela singled to center and Torres hit a home run all the way to Moscow to give the Yankees the lead.
Tailon cruised in the top of the fifth as Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Vazquez grounded back to the mound and Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning. Rodriguez struck out Sanchez looking to start the top of the fifth before Frazier watched strike three go by. LeMahieu flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the sixth as Santana flied out to center to start. Verdugo got a base hit to left before Bogaerts got a double to left. Devers slammed a base hit to right to score both runners to tie the game and chase Taillon. Jonathan Loaisiga came in and Renfroe singled in the hole at short. Gonzalez doubled home Devers to give the Sox the lead but Hernandez struck out swinging. Vazquez hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-3.
The Yankees answered in the bottom of the sixth as Stanton struck out swinging to start. Judge walked and Urshela hit a ground rule double to right to chase E-Rod. Rodriguez went 5 1/3 and would be charged with 3 runs, which is an improvement over his last few starts. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in and Torres hit a sac fly to the right field wall to score Judge with the tying run. Gittens struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the seventh and Dalbec grounded out to first to start. Santana singled in the hole at short and Verdugo walked, but Santana was doubled off at second on a line drive to Urshela by Bogaerts to end the inning. Andujar took strike three to start the bottom of the seventh but Sanchez singled off the glove of Bogaerts. Tyler Wade pinch ran for Sanchez but Frazier banged into a double play to end the inning.
Brett Gardner came in for Andujar but went to center, Kyle Higashioka took over behind the plate, Judge went to right, Frazier went to left and Chad Green came in to pitch the top of the eighth. Devers singled to right but Renfroe struck out swinging. Gonzalez popped up to third but Hernandez doubled into the left field corner to score Devers with the go-ahead run. Vazquez then hit a cue shot down the right field line for a double to score Hernandez. Dalbec then hit a 440 bomb to dead center to ice the game and chase Green. Wandy Peralta came in and Santana lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-3.
Adam Ottavino came in for the bottom of the eighth and LeMahieu flied out to right to start. Stanton grounded out to third and Judge flied out to center to end the inning.
Brooks Kriske came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Verdugo went down hacking to start. Bogaerts swung at air for strike three and Devers popped up to third to end the inning. Brandon Workman came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Urshela flied out to left to begin. Torres struck out swinging but somehow Workman walked the rookie Gittens on 5 pitches. Gardner walked on 5 pitches and Sox manager Alex Cora had seen enough. Closer Matt Barnes was brought in and he struck out Higashioka swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 7-3.
Hero of the Night is Kike Hernandez. His rbi double in the eighth put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.
Hunter Renfroe was 2 for 4.
Marwin Gonzalez was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Eduardo Rodriguez went 5 1/3 inning and was charged with 3 runs.
Garrett Whitlock got the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Adam Ottavino pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Matt Barnes struck out the only man he faced for his 14th save of the season.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Danny Santana was just 1 for 5.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a 2 run homer.
Brandon Workman retired just two of the four men he faced.
Final Thoughts:
That was Boston's 20th comeback win of the season and as nice as that sounds, it would be nice if they didn't fall behind 40 times in 58 games so far. Still, they're a mile ahead of where they were the last two seasons not only in the standings (29-29 in 2019, 22-36 in 2020) but comeback wins. Its been well documented even the Mookie Betts 2019 Red Sox rarely ever came back when trailing or behind after 6 innings and this year's team seem to do it regularly. The Lock came in with runners on second and third but apart from the sac fly he gave up, the Sox bullpen shut the Yankees down after that. The Yankees are in big trouble, the offense just hasn't been there this season and the Sox are reaping the benefits. The Yankees had some historic pitching at the end of May and it didn't do a damn bit of good as they're now 5 games behind the Red Sox and 6 behind the Tampa Bay Rays. Taillon pitched well but the Sox got to the Yankees bullpen, which shows that the bullpen isn't indomitable. Hernandez broke an 0 for 27 drought and somehow Renfroe and Gonzalez have caught fire. Its a good thing someone stepped up after Bogaerts went into a slump. JD Martinez was scratched after getting hit on the hand last night but it doesn't look like he will be out for long. All in all it was a good win and the Sox have a sweep in mind now. The win improved the Sox to 35-23, 1 game behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. It should be noted the eventual World Series champion 2013 Red Sox were 35-23 at this point as well. Tomorrow evening the Sox look to sweep the Yankees when they send Garrett Richards (4-4, 3.75 ERA) to the mound up against Domingo German of New York. The game begins at 7:08 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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