Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Chris Martin was placed on the Injured List with right elbow inflammation and Cam "The Carpenter" Booser had been called up from Worcester to take his place. Elbow injuries are scary
As for the game, that might have been the win of the season against the New York Yankees. For eight innings the Yankees had a comfortable 3-1 lead on the Red Sox. The Yankees rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth to chase incompetent starter Tanner Houck. Nestor Cortes allowed a Romy Gonzalez home run in the fifth but all hope looked lost. Then with two outs in the top of the ninth, Mastaka Yoshida belted a two run home run off Clay Holmes to tie the game. Then in the top of the tenth, Ceddanne Rafaela smashed a two run home run off Tommy Kahnle to give the Sox the lead. In the bottom of the tenth, Kenley Jansen survived a first and third with nobody out situation to record three straight outs. The Sox had stolen one against the Yankees 4-2 in 10 innings at Yankee Stadium.
Cortes got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Rob Refsnyder struck out swinging and Tyler O'Neill lined out to left to end the inning. Houck got the ball in the bottom of the first and Ben Rice popped up to third to start. Juan Soto took strike three and Aaron Judge grounded out to short to end the inning.
Rafael Devers struck out swinging to start the top of the second and Connor Wong grounded out to second. Romy Gonzalez doubled to left but Masataka Yoshida struck out swinging to end the inning. Alex Verdugo grounded out to first to start the bottom of the second and Gleyber Torres lined out to left. Austin Wells grounded out to first to end the inning.
Enmanuel Valdez grounded out to second to open the top of the third and Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to right. Duran flied out to right to end the inning. After a rain delay, Anthony Colpe got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the third. Trent Grisham walked but was forced at second by DJ LeMahieu. Rice grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Refsnyder flied out to left to start the top of the fourth but O'Neill walked. Devers struck out swinging and Wong popped up to third to end the inning. The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the fourth as Soto walked to start. Judge walked but Verdugo flied out to left. Torres appeared to hurt himself beating out a roller to short to load the bases and Oswaldo Cabrera ran for him. Wells hit a routine grounder to second and Valdez...threw the ball away allowing Soto to score. Volpe walked home Judge and Sox manager Alex Cora had enough of Houck. For whatever reason, Sox manager Alex Cora is treating every game like its Game 7 of the World Series and Tanner was done after being charged with 3 runs in 3 1/3 innings. Bailey Horn came in and Grisham grounded out to second to score Cabrera and LeMahieu grounded out to second to end the inning with the Yankees up 3-0.
Houck was garbage tonight
The Sox struck back in the top of the fifth as Gonzalez belted his first home run of the season to start. Yoshida flied out to center but Valdez atoned for his error with a base hit to center. Rafaela struck out swinging and Duran flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
First of the year for Romy
Rice got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the fifth but Soto forced him at second. Judge struck out swinging and Verdugo did the same to end the inning.
Refsnyder lined out to second to start the top of the sixth and O'Neill took strike three. Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Cabrera grounded out to third to start the bottom of the sixth and Wells got a base hit to center. Volpe struck out swinging and Grisham flied out to right to end the inning. Yeoman's effort by Horn to escape that jam in the fourth and keep the Sox in it from there.
Luke Weaver came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Wong struck out swinging to start. Weaver snuffed out Gonzalez' bunt attempt and Yoshida flied out to center to end the inning. Cam "The Carpenter" Booser came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and LeMahieu grounded out to third to start. Rice walked but Soto flied out to center. Judge also flied out to center to end the inning.
Valdez got a base hit off the glove of Weaver to start the top of the eighth and Wells threw a swinging bunt away off the bat of Rafaela for an error. David Hamilton ran for Valdez but Duran struck out swinging. Wilyer Abreu pinch hit for Refsnyder and also struck out swinging. O'Neill grounded out to third to end the inning. Verdugo struck out swinging to start the bottom of the eighth and Cabrera flied out to center. Wells got a base hit to left and Volpe flied out to center to end the inning.
Clay Holmes came in to close out the top of the ninth and Devers grounded back to the mound to start. Wong grounded out to short and Dominic Smith pinch hit for Gonzalez. Yankee fans gladhanded each other thinking the game was in the bag only for Smith to get a base hit to right. Yankee fans were still saying that "Nestah got da win bay-beee" when Smith took second on defensive indifference only for Yoshida to shock the world by belting his third home run of the season to tie the game. Hamilton flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Justin Slaten came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Grisham took strike three to start. LeMahieu grounded out to third and Rice popped up to short to end the inning.
The Red Sox had a nasty surprise waiting for Tommy Kahnle in the top of the tenth with Hamilton starting at second base. Rafaela crushed his 10th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Duran doubled to left but Abreu struck out swinging. O'Neill was retired on a nubber in front of the plate but Devers was intentionally walked. Wong grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-3.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the bottom of the tenth with Rice starting at second base. Soto got a base hit to right to move Rice to third and Yankee fans started gladhanding each other again saying "Dis Judge kid will hit a homah to win da game baybeee!" Instead Judge popped up to third, Verdugo popped up to first and Cabrera grounded out to first to end the game. The Sox had stolen this one 5-3 in 10 innings.
We have Co-Heroes of the Night. Masataka Yoshida belted a 2 out 2 run home run to keep the Sox alive and Ceddanne Rafaela hit a 2 run bomb to give the Sox the lead.
The Good:
Romy Gonzalez was 2 for 3 with a home run.
Dominic Smith singled and scored as a pinch hitter.
Enmanuel Valdez was 2 for 3.
David Hamilton scored the go-ahead run in the 10th inning.
Bailey Horn tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
Cam Booser pitched two scoreless innings.
Justin Slaten got the win with a scoreless ninth inning.
Kenley Jansen earned his 17th save with a scoreless tenth inning.
The Bad:
Rob Refsnyder was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Connor Wong was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Tanner Houck was charged with 3 runs in 3 1/3 innings off 2 hits and 4 walks.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Tyler O'Neill was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Nothing like sticking it to the Yankees just when they think they had the game won. The Yankees do it to the Red Sox all the time so it was nice to see the Sox rally for once. For 8 innings the game was essentially in the bag for New York but Yoshida, Smith and Rafaela never gave up. Also give a shoutout to the bullpen for throwing essentially 7 shutout innings against one of the best offenses in the game. Bailey Horn and Cam Booser combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings to get the game to the ninth inning. Kudos to Romy Gonzalez for his first home run of the season as well. This might get into the head of Clay Holmes as well as a young pitcher. Someone like Kenley Jansen could shrug a game like this off, could Clay? The Sox have won six games in a row and apart for that 4 game losing streak at the end of June, they've been playing a lot better than they were going into the Chicago series. Hopefully the Sox can keep up the momentum all the way to the all-star break. The win improved the Sox to 48-40, 8 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it six wins in a row and second straight against the Yankees.
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