YANKEES LOSE 2 TO BOSTON

Friday night’s game started out with a rain delay but that didn’t stop Alex Verdugo from having a great night in his return to Fenway Park. Luis Gil was on the mound against Brayan Bello. Juan Soto hit a double in the first inning and scored on a home run by Alex Verdugo. Yankees went up 2-0 early. Giancarlo Stanton scored another run in the fourth inning on a fielding error by Bello. The Red Sox scored 1 run in the same inning off a double by Enmanual Valdez. Score was now 3-1. The next inning Anthony Volpe hit a single, Aaron Judge walked, Verdugo hit a double and Anthony Rizzo hit a single which added 2 more runs to the score. The Yankees didn’t stop there. In the top of the 9th with Chase Anderson pitching, Jose Trevino hit a solo home run, Soto walked, Judge hit a double, and Verdugo hit a single. All of that and another fielding error by the Red Sox made the final score 8-1; the Yankees won. Gil pitched five innings, gave up 4 hits, 1 run and struck out 6 to earn his 9th win of the season. Bello pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up 4 runs, walked 3 and struck out 5 and earned the loss. The Yankees bullpen combined, pitched four scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts.

As previously reported Gerrit Cole was making his third rehab appearance on Friday as well. He was moved from Somerset to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team. He pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up 1 run, 2 hits and struck out 10. No news on if he will do another rehab start before returning to the Yankees.

Saturday night, Carlos Rodon struggled early on. He gave up 5 runs in the first two innings with a bunch of singles and doubles by Rafael Devers and Tyler O’Neill, putting the Red Sox up 5-2. DJ LeMahieu hit a two run RBI double to score the Yankees’ two runs. Rodon composed himself after that and finished the night pitching 5 innings, giving up just those 5 runs, walked 3 and struck out 7. Cooper Criswell started for the Red Sox and pitched 4 innings, gave up the 2 runs and struck out 6. Justin Slaten pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief for the Red Sox. The Yankees had the bases loaded in the fifth inning but Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging and left the runners stranded. Both teams scored an additional run in the seventh inning. For the Yankees, Juan Soto hit a solo home run. In the 8th inning, Anthony Rizzo walked, for the second time, and scored on a fielders choice ground out by LeMahieu. The Yankees were closing the gap and were now down by 2 runs. But that same inning the Red Sox added 2 more runs to their score. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a double and scored on a single by Jarren Duran and Duran scored on a pickoff error by Jose Trevino. The Red Sox won 8-4 and ended Rodon’s seven game winning streak.

Sunday night the Yankees were looking to close out the series by taking 2 games against the Red Sox but it didn’t go well. Marcus Stroman pitched against Kutter Crawford. Stroman pitched five innings and gave up 4 runs and only struck out 3. Crawford pitched six innings and gave up 3 runs while striking out 9.  The Yankees went up 1-0 early as Aaron Judge hit a solo home run in the first inning. But the second inning Stroman gave up a walk, a single and a 2 run single to Ceddanne Rafaela. Rafaela stole second and then got to third on a throwing error by Jose Trevino but the next batter struck out to end that inning. The next inning there was another walk and a single but this time followed by an RBI double by Rafael Devers. The Red Sox were now winning 3-1. Same thing happened in the fifth inning, a walk and a single but this time Devers hit a sacrifice fly which let another run score. The Yankees scored 2 more runs in the sixth inning. Jose Trevino hit a solo home run and Anthony Volpe scored on a throwing error by Crawford. The Red Sox were now only up by 1 run. In the seventh inning the Yankees loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a throwing error. The throwing error caused Anthony Rizzo to collide with pitcher Brennan Bernardino at first base and Rizzo left the game as it appeared he hurt his right hand. They were not able to score any more runs as two batters struck out and one lined out. Later that inning, with Luke Weaver on the mound, Devers earned another RBI which was then followed up by a two run triple by Connor Wong. The Red Sox were now winning 7-3 as they scored another two runs in the eighth inning off Ian Hamilton and Michael Tonkin. The Yankees couldn’t get anything going in the ninth inning and the game ended with Trevino striking out. The Red Sox won 9-3. Trevino had a rough night at home plate; the Red Sox had 9 stolen bases in just this game. The most in any MLB game this year.

Hopefully Monday, the Yankees can use the day off to reset as they prepare to start a 3 game series against the second place Orioles on Tuesday.