One of Blake Swihart’s two home runs on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
The Red Sox beat the Yankees again, winning their 5th straight game, and taking sole possession of third place in the AL East.
The Red Sox came out of the gates HOT, tagging Yankees starter Michael Pineda for six runs in the first inning.
- Mookie doubled.
- Pedey singled.
- Xander grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice. 1-0 Good Guys.
- Papi doubled.
- Travis Shaw grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice. 2-0 Good Guys.
- Brock Holt! hit an RBI double. 3-0 Good Guys.
- Blake Swihart hit a three run homer. 6-0 Good Guys.
Pineda must’ve forgotten his pine tar.
Staked with a 6-0 first inning lead, Rick Porcello responded favorably, shutting down the Yankees in order in the home half. Just kidding, he gave up four runs, including a two-run home run to Dustin Ackley. 6-4 Good Guys.
In fairness to Freddie, that’s all the Yankees would get. He would go seven more innings, surrendering only two hits, walking one man, and hitting one man for a final line of:
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porcello (W, 9-14) | 8.0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 5.02 |
Not bad, considering.
After the explosive first inning, Pineda retired 11 straight Red Sox batters before Mookie took him deep on a roadkill-flat slider on the first pitch of the 5th. 7-4 Good Guys.
Unless the Yankees starters flip a switch once we hit October, their postseason run will be a short one, even if they do win the play-in game. I mean the Wild Card “round.” Nova, Sabathia, and Pineda all have ERAs of 4.20 or higher. Severino has been great, Tanaka solid, and maybe they can steal a game by coupling a decent start with their stellar bullpen, but I wouldn’t put money on it.
Anywhoo, the Red Sox offense wasn’t done. Swihart was a man on a mission last night and in top of the eighth he connected for his second round-tripper of the night, this one a two-run job. 9-4 Good Guys.
Jackie, Mookie, and Xander loaded the bases in the 9th, and Josh Rutledge rounded out the scoring with yet another RBI fielder’s choice. 10-4 Good Guys.
Notes:
-Jackie Bradley Jr. did this in the field:
If it seems like he’s made two catches like this in each game of this series, that’s because he has. He was also 2-4 with a double and a run scored. It’s good to see him piece together back-to-back good games, hopefully that continues through the end of the week.
-The Red Sox now have a positive run differential on the season at +4.
-The Sox’ fifth straight win matches their season-high.