Yankees game 6: Three home runs back Tanaka to victory
The Yankees scored seven in the first inning and never looked back.
Boston Red Sox 4 -- New York Yankees 14
Masahiro Tanaka looked to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox and the offense backed him up early.
After a quick first inning by Tanaka, the offense got to work against Clay Buchholz. Jacoby Ellsbury started with a walk. Brett Gardner would hit a single to left field and Ellsbury was on the move, advancing to third on a successful hit-and-run. The hit-and-run would pay off when Carlos Beltran grounded into a force at second base, scoring the first run of the game.
Mark Teixeira would continue the strong first inning with a walk. Brian McCann hit a ground ball to first baseman Mike Napoli but the Red Sox first baseman would bobble it, allowing McCann to reach, loading the bases for Alex Rodriguez. On the first pitch he saw, Alex Rodriguez would clear the bases with a three-run double to left-center field. Chase Headley would hit a two-run home run and Stephen Drew capped off the seven-run first inning by going back-to-back with Headley, hitting his first home run of the season.
In the seven-run first inning, 10 Yankees came to the plate and seven runs scored on four hits.
In the fourth inning, Masahiro Tanaka would walk the leadoff batter, David Ortiz. A pair of wild pitches would move Ortiz to third base. Hanley Ramirez would score the Red Sox first run with a sacrifice fly to center field. After a walk and a throwing error, the bases were loaded. Xander Bogaerts hit a line drive to left field to score two runs and bring the Yankees lead to just four.
In the bottom half of the fourth, Didi Gregorius and Jacoby Ellsbury hit a pair of singles to center field. Ellsbury would steal his second base of the season and would be the second run to score on a Brett Gardner single to center field. Carlos Beltran would hit the fourth single of the inning and Mark Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly to left field for the third run of the inning, recovering the runs surrendered in the top half of the inning.
Masahiro Tanaka would give up one more run in the fifth inning when Hanley Ramirez took him deep to right-center field. In five innings, Masahiro Tanaka allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits while walking three and striking out four. He needed 97 pitches to get through five innings.
In the sixth inning, reliever Tommy Layne would give up three singles to Beltran, Teixeira and McCann. Alex Rodriguez would work the count full before walking to bring in a run. Chase Headley would hit it back up the middle for the 12th run for the Yankees and his third run batted in tonight. Stephen Drew hit a sacrifice fly to bring in another run. Notably, the two trail runners advanced into scoring position but Mookie Betts would make a diving catch to rob Didi Gregorius of a hit, doubling Headley off of second base to generate the unusual double play.
Brian McCann would add a tack-on run in th eighth inning, hitting his first home run of the season to finish the Yankees scoring at 14. As a team, the Yankees were 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Yankees avoided the sweep and put on a very strong offensive display. Hopefully they can carry that over to Baltimore. Notably, the Yankees committed another error, their ninth in the early part of the season.
Win - Masahiro Tanaka (1-1)
Loss - Clay Buchholz (1-1)
Notables
Red Sox
*Xander Bogaerts - 2 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI (6)
*Hanley Ramirez - 1 for 3, R, Solo Home Run (3) in the 5th, 2 RBI (7)
Yankees
*Alex Rodriguez - 1 for 2, R, 2 BB, 2B, 4 RBI (6)
*Chase Headley - 3 for 5, R, Two-run Home Run (2) in the 1st, 3 RBI (5)
Current Yankees Record: 2-4