As for the game, the Boston Red Sox may request to move their remaining home games on the road or in the immortal words of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McKay, "we'd like to have a neutral site." The Sox once again played better on the road as they came to New York to knock off the second place Yankees. Sonny Gray (7-1, 3.20 ERA) didn't have his sharpest outing but still held the Aaron Judge-less Yankees to just 3 runs in 6 1/3 innings. The Sox bats woke up against Yankees starter Ryan Weathers as the Sox turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead when Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras drove in runs in the third inning. Andrew Monasterio and Contreras both hit home runs as the Sox survived an rbi double from Spencer Jones and a Trent Grisham home run to put the game in the hands of the bullpen. The trio of Danny Coulombe, Justin "Incinerator" Slaten, and Aroldis Chapman slammed the door on the Yankees as the Sox took this one 5-3 at Yankee Stadium.
Weathers got the ball in the top of the first and Jarren Duran flied out to left to start. Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to short and Wilyer Abreu flied out to center to end the inning. The Yankees wasted no time getting to Gray in the bottom of the first as Trent Grisham grounded out to second to start. Ben Rice hit a home run all the way into the Long Island Sound to put the Yankees on top. Paul Goldschmidt flied out to center and Cody Bellinger grounded out to second to end the inning with the Yankees up 1-0.
Willson Contreras led off the top of the second with a liner to center but Caleb Durbin singled to right. Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to short to move Caleb to second, and Durbin moved to third on a wild pitch. Andruw Monasterio grounded out to third to end the inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr lined out to second to start the bottom of the second but Spencer Jones got a base hit to center. Anthony Volpe got a base hit to right but Ryan McMahon flied out to left. Austin Wells also flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the third as Mickey Gasper struck out swinging to start. Connor Wong got a base hit to left and Duran got a base hit off the glove of Goldschmidt to move Connor to third. Duran stole second and Rafaela walked to load the bases. Abreu grounded out to short to score Wong and Contreras beat out a roller to the mound to score Duran. Durbin grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox up 2-1.
Trent Grisham grounded out to second to open the bottom of the third but Rice walked. Goldschmidt grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox got another run in the top of the fourth although Kiner struck out swinging. Monasterio blasted his second home run of the season but Gasper grounded out to short. Wong took strike three to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-1.
The Yankees struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Bellinger walked to start. Chisholm forced Bellinger at second then promptly stole second. Jones doubled to right to score Jazz but Volpe hit a liner to Monasterio, doubling off Jones to end the inning with the Yankees down 3-2.
Jones drives in a run
The Sox got some big insurance in the top of the fifth although Duran struck out swinging to start. Rafaela lined out to left but Abreu got a base hit to right. Contreras then launched his 13th home run of the season into the upper deck to silence Yankee Stadium. Durbin grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
Sox go up by 3
The Yankees answered in the bottom of the fifth as McMahon lined out to center to start. Wells flied out to right but Grisham hit a home run all the way to Niagara Falls to cut the lead. Rice got a base hit to right but Goldschmidt grounded out to short to end the inning with the Yankees down 5-3.
Yankees still in this one
Kiner popped up to short to start the top of the sixth and Monasterio did the same. Gasper flied out to left to end the inning. Bellinger struck out swinging to open the bottom of the sixth and Chisholm did the same. Jones got a base hit to right but Volpe lined out to center to end the inning.
Paul Blackburn came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Wong grounded out to third to start. Duran grounded out to second and Rafaela lined out to left to end the inning. McMahon got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the seventh but Wells struck out swinging. Despite being at just 79 pitches, Sox manager Chad Tracy went to the analytics to take him out with "dangerous" hitters coming up. Gray allowed 3 runs in 6 1/3 innings and Danny Coulombe came in to pitch. Grisham flied out to center but Contreras and Monasterio collided on a pop up from Rice to give him new life. Rice struck out swinging anyway to end the inning.
Abreu struck out swinging to start the top of the eighth and Contreras did the same. Durbin grounded out to short to end the inning. Justin "Incinerator" Slaten came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Goldschmidt grounded out to second to start. Bellinger grounded out to second as well and Chisholm flied out to left to end the inning.
Camilo Doval came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Kiner grounded out to third to start. Marcelo Mayer pinch hit for Monasterio and struck out swinging on a pitch 8 feet over his head. Gasper took strike three right down the middle to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Max Schuemann pinch hit for Jones. Schuemann walked but Volpe took three straight pitches down the middle for strike three. Amed Rosario pinch hit for McMahon and walked to cause Yankee fans to start glad handing each other saying "its in the bag". Yankee fans thought a three run walkoff pinch hit home run for Jose Caballero was coming...only for him to fly out to right. Shockingly, Grisham grounded out to first to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of The Night is Willson Contreras. He drove in 3 runs by himself to match the Yankees entire output including the big two run home run.
The Good:
Andruw Monasterio was 1 for 3 with a home run.
Connor Wong was 1 for 3.
Sonny Gray got the win by tossing 6 1/3 innings of 3 run ball allowing 8 hits and 3 walks.
Danny Coulombe got the final 2 outs of the seventh inning.
Justin Slaten pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 13th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Isiah Kiner-Falefa was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Marcelo Mayer struck out as a pinch hitter.
Mickey Gasper was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but stole a base and scored a run.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 3 but walked.
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Caleb Durbin was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Rumors are swirling that other teams are "interested" in the Sox' trio of relivers Garrett Whitlock, Slaten and Chapman but so far Craig Breslow says he's not looking to deal. The bottom line is all the Sox need to do is fix Brayan Bello and the offense. In April and most of May this game would have been a 3-2 Yankee win but by getting rid of the automatic outs, this game turned into a 5-3 win. How many games in April and May were decided by a lack of a big hit with men on base or a lack of a home run here and there? Not to mention the Sox really need to figure out how to win at home because they look like world beaters on the road. Sonny Gray has been worth trading Hunter Dobbins for and the bullpen locked down yet another win. Duran and Durbin got hits again and even though they didn't have a great game, that production wasn't there for two months. The Sox have injury woes, an inability to win at home and an inconsistent offense...otherwise they're in great shape. The win improved the Sox to 27-35, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Yankees tomorrow night when Ranger Suarez (2-3, 3.38) takes on Adam Warren of the Yankees. The game begins at 7:35 at Yankee Stadium.
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