Yankees 1, Red Sox 0, and somehow that's not even the best part.
Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo shot in the third and that held up as the only run of the night, which tells you everything about the kind of game this was. Cam Schlittler out-dueled Patrick Sandoval for five and two-thirds, the pen held the fort, and Cody Bellinger ended the only real threat of the night by throwing a laser to the plate that had no business being that accurate. Game 1 of 4 against Boston, and the Yanks banked it.
The Throw That Decided It
Here's the moment. Seventh inning, one out, Ceddanne Rafaela on third and Wilyer Abreu on second after a ground-rule double. Willson Contreras lifts a fly ball to left that should, by the normal rules of baseball, at least make it interesting.
Bellinger doesn't let it. He catches it in left, uncorks a throw that reportedly hit 99.7 miles an hour, and Rafaela is dead at the plate for an inning-ending double play (the kind of throw that makes you wonder why he ever plays first base). Boone will take that assist and frame it.
That was Boston's best look all night. They didn't get another one.
Schlittler Against His Own Backyard
Cam Schlittler grew up in Walpole, Massachusetts, and Friday night he made his hometown team look silly. Final line: 5.2 innings, zero runs, two hits, eight strikeouts, five walks (he's not usually this wild, and he'd tell you that himself).
He got Nick Sogard swinging in the fifth for his 200th strikeout of the season -- and he's doing it with an ERA that leads the American League. That's not a guy having a career year by accident.
The walks piled up late and Boone didn't let him go looking for a complete-game shutout with the pitch count already at 102. Fair call. Schlittler got the extra swing-and-miss innings he needed and handed it to the pen with the lead intact.
The Pen Held, Barely
Brent Headrick inherited a runner in the sixth when Schlittler finally ran out of gas, then walked another and gave up a single to load the bases before he got Andruw Monasterio to line out to right to escape clean. That's a hold that doesn't show up as heroic in the box score, but it kept a one-run game a one-run game.
Paul Blackburn worked around traffic for an inning and two-thirds, and David Bednar slammed the door in the ninth for his 31st save (Boston didn't manage a single baserunner against him, which is the kind of ninth inning you want on a night like this).
Give some credit to the glove work too. Trent Grisham snagged a line drive off Abreu's bat in the fifth and doubled Rafaela off first to end that threat before it started (Boston went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base -- brutal night to be a Red Sox hitter with a man in scoring position).
Sandoval, for what it's worth, didn't pitch like a guy who deserved a loss. Five and a third innings, one run, seven strikeouts. He just ran into a Goldschmidt swing he'll be thinking about for a while.
The Yankees are 76-58 now, four back of Tampa Bay in the East but up to a three-game cushion over Boston in the wild card race. They'd dropped the finale in Houston on Thursday before this one, so call it one game in the right direction.
Three more against Boston this weekend, starting with a day-night doubleheader Saturday. Ask for another one like this and you're being greedy, but a split of the next three would do just fine.
Jimmy writes the Bronx Pinstripes game recap after every Yankees game. Beat-reporter pacing, fan's heartbeat. He calls opposing players by last name and has no patience for dead-air innings.
