FINAL: Red Sox 9 New York Yankees 7 - Sox Three Run Eighth Gives Them the Lead, Jansen Closes in the Ninth

The Red Sox (55-47) defeat the New York Yankees (60-45) in come from behind fashion, winning 9-7 after being down 7-4 in the seventh inning.

The bats were alive for both teams today, with each side having 14 hits each. The run scoring started early, as Tyler O'Neill hit a sac fly in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0. Anthony Volpe would respond in the next half inning with a solo home run. In the bottom of the third, Rafael Devers would take the lead back with an RBI single, scoring Connor Wong. Rob Refsnyder would hit an RBI double in the fourth, driving in Romy Gonzales. The Yankees would tie the game in the fifth with a Trent Grisham RBI double and an Alex Verdugo sac fly to left field. In the bottom of the fifth, Masataka Yoshida hit a sac fly himself, to make it 4-3. The Yankees would put up a four spot in the seventh inning, with Aaron Judge hitting a three run bomb 470 feet to center field, and Austin Wells would follow him with a solo home run to right. Ceddanne Rafaela would respond in the bottom half of the inning with a two run shot over the monster to cut the Yankees lead to one run. It all came together for Boston in the eighth, when pinch hitter Wilyer Abreu hit an RBI double to center to tie the game. With Abreu on second and Wong on third, Masataka Yoshida would activate his clutch gene and hit a single back up the middle to bring in both runners, to give the Sox the deciding 9-7 lead. 

Brayan Bello started the game for the Sox, and he threw a decent five innings, giving up three runs on five hits, striking out four and walking two in the process. Cam Booser would make an appearance, getting one out and giving up two hits. Josh Winckowski would come in after Booser, inheriting runners on second and third, and he would shut the door on New York getting the final two outs of the sixth. Brenan Bernardino came in for the seventh inning, and he would allow a single and a walk before being pulled. Zack Kelly would replace him, needing two outs to get out of the inning. Kelly would allow four runs on three pitches, giving up the three run homer off the bat of Judge on the very first pitch he threw, and the solo home run from Wells on the third. He also gave up a single, but would end up getting out of the inning without allowing anymore runs. Bailey Horn came in to pitch the eighth inning, and he would receive the win after allowing just a single. Kenley Jansen would get the save in the ninth, striking out Judge in three pitches for the first out. Jansen allowed two singles, but would strike out pinch hitter DJ LeMahieu and forcing Anthony Volpe to ground out to end the game.

My Player of the Game: Masataka Yoshida - Masa only went 1-3 tonight, but his one hit was the biggest of the game, as it gave the Sox the lead in the bottom of the eighth. He had three RBI total, and he also had a walk in the win.

Tomorrow's affair will be another primetime game, this time on FOX. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m., and the probable pitchers are Marcus Stroman (7-5, 3.51 ERA) and Kutter Crawford (6-8, 3.37 ERA)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       _______________________________________

WHO: New York Yankees (60-44) at Red Sox (54-47)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: 4-2
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Nestor Cortes (4-9, 3.99 ERA) vs. RHP Brayan Bello (10-5, 5.27 ERA)
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Jarren Duran CF
Rob Refsnyder LF
Connor Wong C
Rafael Devers 3B
Tyler O'Neill RF
Masataka Yoshida DH
Romy Gonzales 1B
Ceddanne Rafaela SS
Jamie Westbrook 2B

SP Brayan Bello

OPPONENT

Alex Verdugo RF
Juan Soto LF
Aaron Judge DH
Austin Wells C
Gleyber Torres 2B
Ben Rice 1B
Anthony Volpe SS
Trent Grisham CF
Oswaldo Cabrera 3B

SP Nestor Cortes

WHAT'S UP

The Red Sox went 1-5 on a 6-game road trip to LAD (0-3) and COL (1-2) following the MLB All-Star break...They went 10-3 in their previous 13 games.

The Sox traded minor league infielder Moises Bolivar to the LA Dodgers in exchange for LHP James Paxton today, after LA had designated Paxton for assignment on Monday. In 18 starts this season, Paxton has a 4.43 ERA in 89 and a third innings pitched. Paxton was in the Red Sox rotation last year as well, where he made 19 starts, and had an ERA of 4.50.

The Red Sox and Manager Alex Cora on Wednesday agreed to a 3-year contract extension (2025-27). Cora is 6 shy of his 500th managerial win...He'd be the 4th Red Sox manager to reach the mark (see box on right). He has led Boston to a 494-417 (.542) record, the 4th-best winning percentage among among 13 individuals to manage 500+ games with the club.

The Red Sox rank in MLB's top 3 in doubles (T-2nd, 192), triples (3rd, 26), and SLG (3rd, .430). The Sox also rank 2nd in the AL in hits (897, 4th in MLB), AVG (.257, 4th in MLB), and OBP (.324, 6th in MLB). BOS has hit 47 HR in its last 29 G, since 6/17, 2nd most in the AL during that span behind OAK (51).

Rafael Devers is 1 shy of becoming the 1st Red Sox player ever to record 450 career XBH prior to turning 28 years old, as well as the 4th Dominican-born player ever to do so. The last 10 MLB players to reach 450 career XBH prior to turning 28 are Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Adrián Beltré, Andruw Jones, Alex Rodriguez, and Ken Griffey Jr.

Boston has scored more than 5 runs in each of its last 5 games, 1 shy of the longest streak by any team in the Majors this season (6-game streaks: KC, MIL, MIN). Prior to this stretch, the last time the Sox scored more than 5 runs in as many as 5 consecutive games was a 6-game streak from 4/29-5/4/23. 

The Red Sox have trailed in 19 of their last 37 wins (51.4%), compared to just 2 of their first 17 (11.8%). The Sox have won despite trailing after 7 innings 5 times in their last 17 such games (previously 0-28).

Vaughn Grissom has played in 4 rehab games with Triple-A Worcester, making 2 starts at 2nd base and 2 as the designated hitter (2-for-14, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, SB).