All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 5-4 win over the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Price redeems himself: All eyes were on David Price Sunday night. After all, the last time Price faced the Yankees -- also on a Sunday night ESPN game -- he was shelled for eight runs in 3.1 innings. In two starts against the Yankees this season, in fact, he had allowed 12 runs in just 4.1 innings. But Price pitched extremely well, shutting out New York through six innings, during which he allowed just three hits. A key was the first inning, when he pitched himself out of a bases-loaded jam. "That was big,'' acknowledged Price. "I think I've given up at least three runs (in the first) to those guys every time this year and to make pitches and get out of that inning, that was big.'' The outing marked his fourth straight quality start. The only blemish was the decision to send him back out for the seventh after he had thrown 95 pitches
Benintendi gets even against shifts: As a lefty hitter, Andrew Benintendi sees more than his share of infield shifts over the course of the season. But in the 10th inning of a tie game, with the potential game-winning run at second base, Benintendi found a way to make the shifts work for him while facing Yankee reliever Jonathan Holder, who threw him a fastball up-and-away. "I kind of got on top of it and just kind of rolled it over,'' said Benintendi. "Of all the hits up the middle that have been taken away by the shift, that one finds a way to get through. That initial hop in front of the plate, it kind of hit hard. Once I saw the second hop, I knew I was going to beat it out. It was just a matter of it getting into center field. Thank God it did.'' The game-winning single was the third hit of the night for Benintendi. He ranks sixth in the majors with 40 multi-hit games. He also has hit safely in his last 12 games against the Yankees.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1026333017210478592
Sale's return delayed, but not because of a setback: Initially, the Red Sox had hoped Chris Sale would return to the rotation Wednesday in the middle game of the Toronto series. But now, the Sox will hold him out of that series altogether and, according to Alex Cora, "probably'' pitch him in Baltimore next weekend when the Sox play four games in three days. The reason? According to Cora, if Sale pitched Wednesday in Toronto, his next start would have come Aug. 14 in Philadelphia, and in the National League setting, without the use of the DH, Sale would have to hit. The Sox want to avoid that at all costs. The plan now is for Sale to throw a bullpen in Toronto on Tuesday, then pitch either Friday or Saturday in Baltimore against the Orioles, while being held out of the two-game interleague series in Philadelphia.
SECOND GUESS
As it turned out, it didn't cost the Red Sox the game, but the decision by Cora to send David Price back out for the seventh was a suspect one. Price had thrown 95 pitches, and had finally registered a good outing against the Yankees after being knocked around hard in his first two starts against him. Cora's reasoning was sound: Price was still throwing well, and the Yanks had the bottom third of their order due, with a lefty (Brett Gardner) set to lead off the inning. But the better move would have been to allow Price to feel good about his night having held a strong New York lineup scoreless for six innings.
TWO UP
J.D. Martinez: Martinez had had something of a rough night through his first four plate appearances (three swinging strikeouts and a hit batsman). But with the game on the line in the bottom of the ninth and the bases loaded, Martinez swung at the first pitch from closer Aroldis Chapman and singled to center, scoring two runs to bring the Sox to within a run.
Mookie Betts: Betts began the series by reaching base six times against the Yankees; he ended it by reaching base four more times Sunday. His homer in the fifth represented the only run of the night for either team until the sixth. He later walked in the ninth and scored a run and was then intentionally walked in the 10th, setting the stage for Benintendi's game-winner.
TWO DOWN
Heath Hembree: Hembree has been the Red Sox' most effective reliever when it comes to coming into jams in the middle of innings, having stranded the last 19 baserunners he inherited. But Sunday, he walked the No. 9 hitter, Shane Robinson, who was trying to bunt, then later uncorked a wild pitch and allowed a run-scoring single.
Xander Bogaerts: Bogaerts has been incredibly sure-handed this season, having not made an error on a batter ball through his first 90 starts at the position (he had committed five throwing errors). In the four-run New York seventh, he booted what looked to be a double-play ball, paving the way for the Yankees' big comeback.
https://twitter.com/FanSportsClips/status/1026302251898269698
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We kind of stole this one.''
— Benintendi
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The win was the fifth walk-off victory of the season for the Red Sox
- The Sox are now 7-3 in extra innings.
- The Sox now own the biggest lead -- 9.5 games -- of any first-place team in either league.
- Boston has outscored New York 81-62 this season.
- The series sweep was the Sox' 11th this season, most in the majors.
- The Sox improved to 20-4 in getaway games.
- After playing two (relatively) short games in the previous two days, the Sox played their longest (4:39) of the season.