Fresh off of a series win against the Cleveland Indians, the Yankees headed down the road to Boston for a quick three game road trip against the Red Sox. The Yankees were still stuck in the roller coaster mode of win a game or two, lose a game or two since the All-Star break. They were still hovering around the .500 mark.
Opportunities lost
Luis Severino would make his return to the Yankee rotation on Tuesday and the offense early on looked like they wanted to give him some breathing room. Single runs in the second and third innings would stake the youngster to a 2-0 lead against Rick Porcello. The RBIs would come courtesy of Chase Headley and Brian McCann.
Severino would run into trouble in the third after an Andrew Benintendi single and Mookie Betts double left runners at second and third. An extended at bat against Dustin Pedroia ended with a fastball left up in the zone punished to right field for a two-run double and a tie game. The fifth inning would prove to be Severino’s final one of the night. Benintendi and Pedroia would get the go ahead RBIs and once the bullpen allowed an inherited runner to score, the Red Sox would lead 5-2. Severino’s final line would be 4.2 IP, 7 hits, 5 runs, and 3 strikeouts. Not the success that the Yankees had hoped for, especially with his performance in the bullpen of late. Growing pains are tough sometimes. 2016 has seen Severino go through his share.
The Yankees had chances in the seventh inning to climb back into things, but a pair of baserunning mistakes shot down any ideas of a rally. Porcello would manage to work around that and give the Sox eight innings of two run baseball. The Yankees had another golden opportunity get away in the ninth after Craig Kimbrel was brought in for the save. Kimbrel would walk four batters in his .2 innings and the Yankees would have a run in and the bases loaded before Matt Barnes struck out Mark Teixeira looking to end the game.
What could have been. Opportunities lost, especially late. The Yankees were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position with 9 left on base. Not much went right in this one, mostly just a lack of execution. Even with a meh start from a youngster, the chances to to win were not pounced on.
A late uprising
The Yankees used big innings in the seventh and eighth to pull out the middle game of the series. The game was one of rolling out relievers one after another because starter Nathan Eovaldi had to come out after the first inning with elbow discomfort. Have the doomsday predictions about the hard throwing right-hander finally come about? Hopefully not, but he has been sent back to New York for further tests.
The game was not looking good when the bullpen parade left the Yankees behind 4-1 after six innings. The single run came courtesy of a Didi Gregorius home run. The offense had missed early opportunities mainly due to hitting into a couple of double plays. They would parlay six hits and a walk into five runs in the seventh inning. The biggest blow was Starlin Castro‘s two-run double. Suddenly a late deficit has turned into a 6-4 lead.
They would tack on three more runs in the following frame with Gary Sanchez getting his first major league home run. Sanchez would go 4-for-5 with 2 runs scored and the 1 RBI. He is the 14th Yankee to hit his first major league home run in Fenway Park and the youngest Yankee to have 4 hits and a home run in a game vs the Red Sox since The Mick in 1954.
Adam Warren would pitch two innings as the arms in the bullpen were dwindling which got the game to Dellin Betances. Betances didn’t disappoint as he retired the side in order to finish off an unexpected 8 inning performance for the bullpen. The Yankees will go for another series win on Thursday as Michael Pineda will take the hill.
How about another
Michael Pineda would come through with a pretty respectable start by holding the Red Sox to two runs on eight hits in six innings of work. His counterpart, Eduardo Rodriguez, seemed to be getting the better of things as he was once again shutting down the Yankee offense. Austin Romine‘s solo home run would account for one of the three hits that Rodriguez would give up and the only run in his seven innings pitched.
The Yankees would make an eighth inning comeback against Brad Ziegler, thanks in large to Ellsbury’s bases loaded double that would tie things at 3 apiece. Alex Rodriguez would then collect the game winning RBI on a groundout. Luis Cessa would pitch 2.0 scoreless innings in relief and Betances would add another save as the Yankees would take the finale 3-2.
The Yankees won the series and in the process once again moved two games above .500 and remain 3.5 games back of the second wildcard. Not a whole of difference than before the team sold off several players at the trade deadline. The attention now turns to Friday night as the Rays come to town and all eyes will focus on Alex Rodriguez and his final game as a Yankee.
