Rafael Devers blasted two homers and drove in five runs as the Red Sox smoked the New York Yankees, 6-2, for their fourth straight win and ninth win in 11 tries against the Yankees this season.
Devers hit a two-run shot off starter Gerrit Cole in the fifth, then added a three-run blast off reliever Nestor Cortes.
The Red Sox lost starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez in the second inning with migraine symptoms. They used five relievers to patch the rest of the game together, who limited the Yankees to just one run over the final eight innings.
WHO: Red Sox (59-38) vs. New York Yankees (50-45)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 8-2
TV/RADIO: NESN; MLBN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
YANKEES
LeMahieu 3B
Stanton DH
Odor 2B
Sanchez C
Torres SS
Gardner CF
Gittens 1B
LaMarre LF
Allen RF
RED SOX
Hernandez 2B
Durran CF
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Martinez DH
Verdugo LF
Renfroe RF
Vazquez C
Dalbec 1B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B7: Devers strikes again -- this time, on a curveball, and more to straightaway center, into the first few rows of the bleachers. Two on this time and the Sox have a comfortable 6-1 lead.
B5: Remember when Rafael Devers was struggling to make contact on fastballs? That seems like a long time ago now. He drives a 99 mph heater from Cole into the Monster Seats in left center, a two-run shot and the Sox have grabbed a 3-1 lead.
B5: it's fun to watch Jarren Duran run the bases, with blazing speed and long strides. But everyone was robbed of that when Duran's blast into The Triangle bounced up and into the bullpen for a ground rule double.
T4: It hasn't always been smooth -- there's been a walk, a hit batsman and a single mixed in -- but Valdez has recorded nine outs and seven have been by strikeout.
B3: Gerrit Cole gets out of trouble (first and second) by fanning Rafael Devers in an eight-pitch at-bat. Sox haven't done much vs. Cole, but they have succeeded in running up his pitch count (70 through three innings)
T2: Quite the effort by Valdez, who inherited a second-and-third mess from the injured Rodriguez and struck out the side, though he did plunk the second hitter he faced. Stranded three and kept the game manageable..
T2: Eduardo Rodriguez felt something wrong and summoned manager Alex Cora from the dugout after allowing a run-scoring double to Brett Gardner. No telling what it was, though it seemed like as he headed to go behind home plate to back up the play, he grabbed his lower back. He bent over for a time on the mound, crouched down and after a brief consultation with pitching coach Dave Bush, manager Alex Cora and members of the training staff, Rodriguez walked off the mound, replaced by Phillips Valdez.
WHAT'S UP At 59-38 (.608), the Red Sox own sole possession of the AL’s best record...They are 21 games above .500, 1 shy of their season high (54-32)...The Sox have won their last three games and are 27-15 (.643) in their last 42.....Thursday night marked the Red Sox’ fourth win in which they trailed after eight innings (also: April 6 vs. TB; April 10 at BAL; and May 20 at TOR)...The Rays are the only other team with as many as four such wins (5)....The Red Sox have 30 come-from-behind wins, tied with the Rays for most in the majors...In 10 of those wins, the Sox trailed after 5 innings....Over his last three games, Kiké Hernández is 6-for-13 with three homers, three doubles, and eight RBI.....Each of Hernández’s last 10 hits has gone for extra bases (six doubles, four HR)...That is the longest streak by a Red Sox player since Jackie Bradley Jr. (11 in 2015). In the expansion era (1961-present), no other Red Sox player has had a streak of 10 straight hits going for extra bases, all from the leadoff spot (source: Elias). The Red Sox regained sole possession of 1st place in the AL East on June 27 and have held it ever since. The Sox are 25-12 (.676) vs. AL East teams...That is the best record for any MLB team within its own division. 29 of the Sox’ first 32 games out of the All-Star break are vs. the AL East (NYY-10, TOR-10, TB-6, BAL-3, DET-3)....The Red Sox have held the Yankees to three earned or fewer in eight of 10 meetings this season...Sox starters have a 2.38 ERA against the Yankees in 2021. The Red Sox are 9-2 in their last 11 games against the Yankees...They won their first seven games against the Yankees in 2021, their third-best start vs. NYY in any season (14-0 in 1912, 8-0 in 2009)....The Red Sox are 18-10 (.643) in one-run games, MLB’s third-best record...They own the majors’ fourth-best record in extra-inning games (6-3, .667). The Sox are one of two teams without a losing streak of longer than three games this season...The Sox are 30-20 (.600) vs. teams that entered today with a winning record, MLB’s third-best mark...They are 11-16 vs. AL West teams and 48-22 (.686) vs. all others. The Red Sox lead MLB in runs scored with 2 outs (213)...With RISP and two outs, they lead MLB in AVG (.285), SLG (.497), and OPS (.871). With two strikes, the Sox lead the majors in RBI (198) and XBH (123)...They lead the AL in two-strike HR (49)...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....The Red Sox are 29-19 (.604) at home, the fourth-best record in the AL (10th-best in MLB)...They are 14-6 (.700) at home since Fenway opened to full capacity on 5/29, including 10-2 in their last 12 games. 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 4.34 ERA at home (24th)....Xander Bogaerts has played in 993 games at shortstop, all with the Red Sox...According to Elias, he would become the 70th player to appear in 1,000+ games at SS for a single franchise, the third to do so with the Sox (Everett Scott-1,093, Rick Burleson-1,004)....Since the All-Star break, Red Sox starters have posted a 3.41 ERA,...In their last 23 games, they own a 3.61 ERA ....Red Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 74 times, fourth-most in the majors (OAK-86, CWS-76, LAD-75). The Sox are 49-25 (.662) in those games....The Red Sox rank in the top five in the majors in runs scored (third, 495), AVG (fifth, .257), SLG (second, .443), OPS (third, .764), doubles (first, 207), and XBH (first, 345). The Sox have hit four or more homers in a game an MLB-best 10 times, including in five of their last 20 games...In that 20-game span, they lead the AL with 36 HR. The Sox own MLB’s best records when scoring four or more runs (52-7, .881) and five or more runs (45-4, .918)...They have scored 10 or more runs in a game an AL-best 13 times.....The Red Sox join HOU and TOR as the only teams featuring four players with 15 or more HR and 50 or more+ RBI each...The Sox are the only team featuring three qualifying hitters with a .900+ OPS (no other AL team has more than one)....The Red Sox are 7-1 in Eduardo Rodrioguez's last 8 starts. In his last five tarts, has a 2.83 ERA with 34 SO, five walks, a 1.01 WHIP, and a .220 opponent AVG...Rodriguez ranks ninth in the AL in SO/9.0 IP (10.57) and 7th in SO/BB (4.87)...He ranks first among Sox starters in SO/9.0 IP, and 2nd in SO/BB ratio, FIP (3.51), and BB/9.0 IP (2.11). Has an expected ERA of 3.65...Rodriguez is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three starts vs. NYY this season....Gleyber Torres is 7-for-21 with three homers lifetime against Rodriguez...Christian Vazquez is 5-for-13 against Gerrit Cole.
NOTES:
* Less than an hour before gametime, the Red Sox placed reliever Hirokazu Sawamura on the IL with inflammation of the right tricep. The move was retroactive to July 20. Sawamura last pitched Monday in Buffalo, retiring the only hitter he faced. He has a 2.87 ERA in 28 games with the Sox.
* Taking Sawamura's place on the roster was RHP Phillips Valdez, who previously had made 20 appearances with an ERA of 4.24 before being optioned to Worcester on June 10. At Triple A, Valdez had a 3.38 ERA.