The Red Sox earned their fourth walkoff win of the season with an improbable comeback that saw them score all five of their runs from the seventh inning to edge the New York Yankees 5-4 in 10 innings.
In the bottom of the 10th, trailing 4-3, the Red Sox got the benefit of four wild pitches from Brooks Kriske, followed by a sacrifice fly from Hunter Renfroe to produce the win.
In the ninth, the Sox had rallied with a two-out, two-run double by Kike Hernandez to tie the game and force extra innings.
The win enabled the Sox to retain first place on their own and gave them eight wins in 10 tries against the Yankees.
WHO: Red Sox (58-38) vs. New York Yankees (50-44)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 7-2
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Tanner Houck (0-2, 3.38) vs. LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-5, 4.18)
TV/RADIO: NESN; MLBN; WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
YANKEES
LeMahieu 1B
Gardner LF
Stanton DH
Odor 2B
Torres SS
Brantly C
Allen RF
Florial CF
Wade LF
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Renfroe RF
Vazquez C
Verdugo LF
Dalbec 1B
Chavis 2B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B9: With the Sox down to their final out, a clutch double from Hernandez scores two runs and ties the game. Rafael Devers can't deliver Hernandez from second, and we're heading to extra innings.
T8: Ugly inning all around for the Red Sox. A leadoff walk, a stolen base allowed, another walk, what should have been an error on the part of Alex Verdugo who juggled Giancarlo Stanton's single, allowing D.J. LeMahieu to score. Then, a sac bunt and a sac fly and the Yankees lead by two.
B7: Bobby Dalbec tries to be too aggressive and attempts to score from second base on an infield single, but is cut down for the third out of the inning. Not a smart player with the Red Sox' Nos. 3 and 4 hitters due.
B7: With the bases loaded and one out, Kike Hernandez swings at the first pitch from lefty Lucas Luetge and hits a flyball to shallow center, caught by Estevan Florial. But Alex Verdugo tags and slides in head-first, safely, with the first Red Sox run of the game.
B6: Sox chase Jordan Montgomery, but waste a first-and-third, two-out opportunity when Hunter Renfroe flies to RF, stranding both.
T5 After a delay of about 50 minutes, play about to resume. Josh Taylor will take over for Houck, who went 4.2 innings. allowed a run on two hits and is responsible for a baserunner at first.
B4: A very different look offensively for the Red Sox, compared to the last two games in Buffalo. In those two, Sox combined for 20 runs, 19 extra-base hits and 13 homers. Tonight, they have two hits -- both singles -- through the first four.
T4: Sloppiness on the part of Christian Vazquez costs the Sox a run. Passed ball charged to Vazquez allowed both Yankee baserunners to advance and Brett Gardner trotted home to score from third on a groundout to short an unearned run. That's nine passed balls this season by Vazquez, who's on pace to set a career high. Previous career high was 11, set in both 2017 and 2018.
B3: Bogaerts makes hard contact, but his line drive is just a few feet away from shortstop Gleyber Torres.
B3: Here's a chance for Bogaerts to bust out at the right time -- bases loaded, two out in a scoreless game.
T2: Impressive inning from Tanner Houck, who allowed a leadoff single to Rougned Odor, then fans the next three Yankee hitters he sees -- all on sliders.
B1: Xander Bogaerts continues to struggle at the plate, striking out on a curveball in the dirt,. He's 0-for-10.
WHAT's UP: The Red Sox have won their last two games and are 3-2 since the All-Star break...At 58-38 (.604), they are tied with the White Sox for the AL’s best record. Since their last three-game losing streak, the Sox are 26-15 (.634)...They are one of two teams without a losing streak of longer than three games (also NYM)....The Red Sox regained sole possession of first place in the AL East on June 27, and have held it ever since. The Sox are 24-12 (.667) vs. AL East teams...They'll play 29 of their first 32 games out of the All-Star break are against the AL East (NYY-10, TOR-10, TB-6, BAL-3, DET-3). The Sox are 29-20 (.592) vs. teams that entered today with a winning record, MLB’s second-best mark...They are 11-16 vs. AL West teams and 47-22 (.681) vs. all others....The Red Sox won their first seven games against the Yankees this season, their third-best start vs. NYY in any season (14-0 in 1912, 8-0 in 2009). The Sox have held NYY to three runs or fewer in seven of nine meetings this season...Red Sox starters have posted a 2.61 ERA against the Yankees in 2021....The Red Sox have earned 10 series sweeps (one 4-game, four 3-game, four 2-game, one 1-game)... Since losing their first three games of the season to BAL, the Sox have not been swept in a series of any length....In their two-game sweep at TOR, 18 of the Red Sox’ 23 hits went for extra bases (11 HR, 7 2B). The Sox hit six homers on Monday and five homers on Wednesday, marking only the fifth time the franchise homered five or more times in consecutive games...Only once have they hit five or more homers in three consecutive games (6/17-19 in 1977). The Sox have hit four homers an MLB-best 10 times, including in five of their last 19 games...In that 19-game span, they lead the AL with 36 HR.... The Red Sox rank in the top five in the majors in runs scored (third, 490), AVG (fifth, .257), SLG (second, .445), OPS (third, .766), doubles (first, 206), and XBH (first, 344). The Sox own MLB’s best records when scoring four or more runs (51-7, .879) and five or more runs (44-4, .917)...They have scored 10 or more runs in a game an AL-best 13 times....The Red Sox join the Astros and Blue Jays as the only teams featuring four players with at least 15 HR and 50 RBI each...14 teams have one or none. The Sox are the only team featuring three qualifying hitters with a .900+ OPS....The Red Sox are 28-19 (.596) at home, the fourth-best record in the AL (11th-best in MLB)...They are 13-6 (.684) at home since Fenway opened to full capacity on May 29. ....The Red Sox have the AL’s best road record (30-19, .612), second-best in MLB...They have a 3.83 ERA on the road (seventh in MLB) and a 4.40 ERA at home (24th)....In their last 22 games, Red Sox starters have posted a 3.75 ERA ....Red Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 74 times, tied for third-most in the majors (OAK-85, CWS-76, LAD-74)...The Sox are 49-25 (.662) in those games...Red Sox relievers rank fourth in the AL and eight in the majors in ERA (3.63)...Their nine active relievers (including Tanner Houck) have a combined 2.82 ERA for Boston this season...Josh Taylor has allowed 0 runs in 27 of his last 28 outings...Among rookies with 20.0 or more innings pitched this season, Garrett Whitlock owns the lowest ERA (1.34)...In his last 17 outings, he has a 0.68 ERA and .211 opponent AVG....Whitlock has made 17 scoreless appearances of more than 1.0 IP, most in MLB...He is the first Sox pitcher with 17 such games in a season since Derek Lowe in 2000 (17); the last Sox pitcher with 18+ was Lowe in 1999 (22)....Tanner Houck earned his first career save with three scoreless IP in the Red Sox’ 4-0 victory Friday at NYY...That was his second career relief appearance......Houck has allowed one or no walks in each of his four ML outings this year.
NOTES:
* The Red Sox are placing UTI Danny Santana on the IL with a left groin strain and replacing him with Franchy Cordero. "It's a tough one because (Santana) was feeling good,'' said Alex Cora. "Swing-wise, he felt like he was on point. His timing was right and he was making good decisions.''
* Top draft pick Marcelo Mayer was at Fenway, having undergone a physical in recent days. The Sox are close to getting Mayer signed so that he can officially begin his pro career.