BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 8, Yankees 1 - Kutter Crawford sharp as Boston hits three home runs

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 8-1 win over the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Luis Urías hits grand slams in consecutive games: Urías returned to the Sox lineup and hit a second-inning grand slam on the first pitch he saw from Gerritt Cole, becoming the first Boston hitter to hit four-run homers in back-to-back games since Jimmie Foxx in 1940. Urías pulled Boston within striking distance late in Thursday's loss with his seventh-inning slam in Washington, returning to the lineup on Saturday for his 10th game since joining the Red Sox at the trade deadline from Milwaukee. 

Pablo Reyes moved from second to give Trevor Story the day off, while leaving both available to play shortstop in case Justin Turner faltered in an emergency outing at first base. Reyes became the backup first base option, having never played the position, after Triston Casas became a late scratch with a tooth infection. Turner played the entire game, committing only one inconsequential error. Reyes hit an RBI double in the eighth inning thanks to a Greg Allen drop. Connor Wong and Rafael Devers added home runs to run away with another series win over New York. Cole allowed seven hits and six runs in 4.0 innings. 

Kutter Crawford and pitching staff stellar again: Crawford held the Yankees hitless for five innings, walking a pair and hitting another batter before Aaron Judge hit a home run in the sixth inning that became the only hit Crawford allowed in his winning effort. Crawford saved the bullpen by logging 82 pitches, striking out DJ LeMahieu and downing Judge in a 1-2-3 first by hammering the strike zone. Like Bryan Bello yesterday, Crawford returned to the mound in the second inning with a comfortable lead to keep staying aggressive. He finished throwing 63% of his pitches landing for strikes, and New York's hitters never legitimately threatened him as he and John Schreiber recorded six strikeouts. Mauricio Llovera closed the game with six straight outs, three via strikeout. 

FIVE UP

Luis Urías: Now hitting .258 with eight hits and 9 RBI in Boston, with his first two grand career grand slams coming two days apart. As I wrote earlier this month, you can acknowledge Chaim Bloom's quality finds while also criticizing where he landed this roster in the big picture. The Red Sox gave up next to nothing for a competitive hitter at the bottom of the lineup, who filled some positional need in the middle of the lineup. You could argue that if Bloom allowed himself to deal with more aggression, he might find the right talent to move the needle in Boston. It's the corner-cutting relievers and trying to fit in mismatched players out of position that leads to inconsistency. Urías' performance today also reminded me of an excellent tag he placed playing third base against the Tigers. 

Pablo Reyes: It's unfathomable that Reyes nearly had to play first base today. That fortunately didn't happen, but could if Casas sustained a longer-term injury. His willingness to do so, and his ability to play both second base and shortstop, improbably kept Reyes, who couldn't make Oakland's major league roster, on the Red Sox over Kiké Hernández, Christian Arroyo and Yu Chang. Reyes hit 3-4 and walked once in Saturday's win, driving home a late insurance run and improving to .322 at the plate this season. He's hitting .362 in August with six extra-base hits, including his walk-off grand slam, his first home run since 2021, that came 10 days before Urías first big blast on Thursday. It's also refreshing watching Urías, Reyes and Trevor Story clean up the once horrid middle infield defense that constantly undermined the team earlier this season.

Kutter Crawford: Today's start made me think no Red Sox player has gone under the radar more than Crawford this season, who's filled multiple roles and provided above-average starts like today's one-hit effort over six innings. He's thrown roughly four innings per game in 16 starts and eight relief outings. His last seven appearances amounted to a 2.86 ERA with 36 strikeouts, and although Crawford downed D.J. LaMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton twice each with well-placed fastballs and several off-speed pitches, other starts compared, like when he struck out nine Cubs over six innings last month. If Boston makes the playoffs, Alex Cora will love utilizing Crawford in a variety of situations. The Red Sox are now 6-3 in his last nine starts. 

Connor Wong: Caught an Isiah Kiner-Falefa bunt in front of home plate and doubled-up Stanton running off first base in the hit-and-run in one motion that signaled the Yankees had another long day in front of them. Later, he drove in Reyes with a two-run homer to right after laying off a tough 2-2 Cole pitch down-and-away, before taking the next one 379 feet to right field to expand the Sox' lead to 6-0. Another underrated contributor, Wong was prepared to play second base in case of emergency. 

Rafael Devers: Hesitated to place him here despite his hitting ticking upward in recent games. The standard should be high, and Cora acknowledged an inconsistent fielding season by Devers this week. His miscues in the field helped put the Sox behind in Thursday's loss to the Nationals. His step back as an average hitter made sense earlier in the season when he needed to turn up his aggressiveness to compensate for a struggling lineup around him, but that's no longer necessary as Boston's hitters emerge as some of the league's more potent lineups. Today's effort deserved praise though, including adding his 28th home run of the season in the ninth inning to go up 8-1 and finish 3-5. Dever is 10-26 (.385) over his last seven games, hit 3-4 with 2 RBI and a walk in Friday's win and continues to mash against Cole, who he's now 11-28 (.393) against over the past three seasons.

ONE DOWN

The Yankees: Legitimately couldn't find a down performance on the Sox between three strong efforts on the mound, eight Sox hitters reaching base and Turner grinding it out at first base through injury. Let's instead put down the Yankees, who hardly look interested in taking the field aside from Judge. Cole continues to struggle mightily against the Sox, New York fell to 1-7 against Boston this season and lost its seventh straight game to fall into a tie with the Angels, 7.5 games out of the playoffs. 

This last week effectively ended the Yankees' season, one where Stanton faded from relevancy, Domingo German left the team due to substance abuse issues, Anthony Rizzo suffered a concussion he apparently played through before getting shut down again. Judge missed significant time running through an outfield wall. For all the Red Sox' misfortune this season, they'll exit this season in a better position than the Yankees, who might even lose their manager Aaron Boone. 

NOTABLE

The Sox scratched 1B Triston Casas this afternoon with a tooth infection. IF Justin Turner stepped in to play his first game in the field since July 30 as he deals with a heel injury. Cora said Casas went to the hospital and had the infection drained, and he'll return to the lineup on Monday at the earliest. Cora added that the Red Sox are discussing making a roster move, and it's worth wondering if 1B Bobby Dalbec, sporting a .978 OPS with 30 home runs in Triple-A Worcester, could get the call. 

RHP Josh Winckowski, who allowed three runs in Thursday's loss in relief, will open on Sunday's series finale with RHP Nick Pivetta handling the bulk work. 

UP NEXT

Saturday at New York at 1:05 p.m., RHP Clarke Schmidt (8-7, 4.76 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Wincowski (3-1, 3.20 ERA)