NEW YORK -- All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Red Sox improve to 7-0 vs. Yanks: The last two seasons, the Yankees didn't just dominate the Red Sox in their head-to-head meetings; they embarrassed them, winning 23 of 29 of the games. But the script has completely flipped in 2021, with the Red Sox sweeping each of the first two three-game series this season, then starting the most recent one with a convincing 4-0 shutout. The win Friday marked the third time in seven games that the Sox won a game by a margin of four runs or greater. The Sox have won games in every imaginable way against New York this year. It's their longest winning streak against the Yanks since 2011, and particularly given the manpower issues the Yankees now face after the COVID-19 outbreak, the Sox now have a chance to bury their rivals in the standings. There are six more games between the two in the next nine days, and if the Sox keep this up, they can effectively take New York out of contention for the division title.
Pitching in for the shutout: The Sox got 5.2 strong innings from starter Eduardo Rodriguez and three innings of relief from Tanner Houck -- with a big out from Hirokazu Sawamura in between. Rodriguez had pitched well in the last few weeks without always getting the results he would have liked. On Friday night, he put the stuff and execution together, allowing just two hits -- a leadoff single to D.J. LeMahieu and a two-out double to Rougned Odor, the last hitter he faced. After Sawamura stranded Odor for the final out of the inning, the Sox turned things over to Houck. The club has designed a unique plan for him that will have him pitch in relief through one turn of the rotation before getting a spot start in the next turn, then repeating the process. Giving the Sox three strong innings to record his first major league save, Houck checked all the boxes from out of the bullpen. He gave up one hit and walked one while fanning three. "This was definitely a little bit of confidence booster, having success right away,'' said Houck.
TURNING POINT
In the fifth inning, Rodriguez fanned the first two hitters he faced before issuing a walk to Chris Gittens. Rodriguez looked to then be out of the inning when he got Trey Amburgey to hit a grounder to third baseman Rafael Devers. But Bobby Dalbec mishandled the throw at first, allowed Amburgey to reach while Gittens motored to third. Very quickly, the Yankees had baserunners at the corners and the potential tying run at the plate. But Rodriguez slammed the door by striking out Tim Locastro, stranding both runners and keeping the Yankees off the board.
TWO UP
Christian Arroyo: With the arrival of Jarren Duran, Arroyo is going to have to fight for his playing time. Given a start at second, he had a big night with a two-run homer in the second -- his sixth of the season -- and a double to right in the seventh inning.
J.D. Martinez: The Sox' 3-0 lead appeared tenuous in the final innings, but Martinez took care of that by driving a fastball out to right for his 19th homer of the season.
ONE DOWN
Alex Verdugo: Verdugo struggled at the end of the first half, and the start of the second didn't begin any better as he took an 0-for-4 and didn't get the ball out of the infield all night.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I was able to throw the fastball right where I wanted and my changeup was working pretty good down in the strike zone and I got a lot of swing-and-miss with it.'' - Eduardo Rodriguez on the keys to his success Friday night.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Tanner Houck became the sixth Red Sox pitcher to earn a save this season.
* J.D. Martinez extended his on-base streak to 29 games.
* Christian Arroyo has five homers in his last 15 games.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Yankees continue their series at 7:15 p.m. with RHP Nathan Eovaldi (9-5, 3.66) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (9-4, 2.68).