Final: Red Sox 6, Yankees 3 - Red Sox score four runs in fifth inning

The Boston Red Sox start their four game series against the New York Yankees with a 6-3 victory at home. 

Facing off against Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler, Boston gave the young pitcher trouble while taking advantage of defensive miscues.

The Yankees started the game with a 2-0 lead against Connelly Early. Jasson Dominguez recorded an RBI base hit in the first inning, and three innings later, Jose Caballero delivered a solo home run to left field. 

The Red Sox put runners on base in all but one inning during Schlittler's time on the mound. They struggled to drive home runners early on, but hat changed in the fifth inning, as the Red Sox tallied four runs to take their first and only lead of the night.

With two runners on base, Willson Contreras lined a pitch down the third base line for Boston's first run of the game. One at-bat later, Jarren Duran popped a short fly ball into left field, but a poor throw from Caballero allowed Ceddanne Rafaela to tag up from third and tie the game.

Caleb Durbin then stepped into the batter's box, and he delivered a six-pitch, two-run home run to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.

The Yankees cut Boston's lead to one run in the seventh inning, but the Red Sox added two additional runs in the eighth. New York loaded the bases with no outs, and Nate Eaton and Rafaela both forced in runs to extend Boston's lead to three.

Despite the run support, Aroldis Chapman struggled in his ninth inning appearance. The reigning AL Reliever of the Year struggled throwing strikes, allowing the Yankees to load up the bases. In the end, Chapman secured the save and prevented any runs from scoring.

The Yankees finished the game with more hits than Boston, but fielding miscues became the key difference. In total, New York committed four errors tonight, and all four runs allowed by Schlittler weren't credited as earned. 

Early picked up the win tonight, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out nine batters. 

The Red Sox will continue their series against the Yankees tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. with Payton Tolle on the mound.

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WHO: Red Sox (32-46) vs Yankees (48-31)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park, Boston
SERIES TO DATE: (0-0), (1-4)
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Connelly Early (6-5, 3.64 ERA) vs. RHP Cam Schlittler (8-3, 1.71 ERA)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLB Network, WEEI-FM 93.7

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Masataka Yoshida (L) DH
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Willson Contreras (R) 1B
Jarren Duran (L) LF
Caleb Durbin (R) 3B
Anthony Seigler (S) 2B
Carlos Narváez (R) C
Marcelo Mayer (L) SS

SP Connelly Early

YANKEES

Paul Goldschmidt (R) DH
Ben Rice (L) 1B
Amed Rosario (R) 3B
Cody Bellinger (L) CF
Jasson Domínguez (S) RF
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
José Caballero (R) LF
Austin Wells (L) C

SP Cam Schlittler

WHAT'S UP

The Boston Red Sox start a four game series against the New York Yankees with Connelly Early on the mound against Cam Schlittler.

Caleb Durbin is starting at third base despite injuring his left pinkie in Colorado.

 Red Sox infielder Romy Gonzalez said earlier this week that he was pushing to return from the injured list to make his season debut on Saturday. “And we’ll reassess after that and decide where he’s at,” Chad Tracy said.