The Boston Red Sox did not just snap out of their scoring funk Saturday afternoon. They did it in a way that left the New York Yankees with no room to breathe.
After two straight shutout losses, Boston put together a 6-0 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. Wilyer Abreu got it started in the opening inning, drilling a two-out solo homer off Carlos Rodón to end the Red Sox’s scoreless stretch. It was Abreu’s 23rd home run of the season and Boston’s first run since Wednesday.
From there, the game belonged to the Red Sox pitching staff.
Hunter Bennett set the tone with six shutout innings, giving up just three hits and no walks while striking out seven. He needed only 83 pitches, 59 of them strikes, and finished with a game score of 73.
The Yankees never managed to put more than four hitters in an inning against him, and their best chance came in the fourth when Heliot Ramos doubled. Even then, Boston erased the threat when Ceddanne Rafaela threw out Amed Rosario at the plate.
That kind of clean, controlled response was exactly what Boston needed after consecutive games without a run.
The Red Sox added a little more breathing room in the fifth when Adley Rutschman scored on a passed ball, but the real separation came late. Boston broke the game open with four runs in the ninth, turning a tight contest into a comfortable finish.
Andruw Monasterio singled in Caleb Durbin and Rutschman, Nick Sogard followed with an RBI double, and Rafaela capped the inning with an RBI single. Rutschman finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Sogard went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run. Boston totaled nine hits and went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The bullpen kept the shutout intact after Bennett exited. Tayron Guerrero worked through a seventh-inning single, Garrett Whitlock handled the eighth with a perfect frame and Jovani Morán closed it out. In all, Boston’s pitchers allowed four hits, issued no walks and struck out nine.
The win moved the Red Sox to 74-61, cutting their deficit to two games behind the Yankees, who fell to 76-59. It also evened the four-game series at one game apiece.
The teams won’t have long to sit on it. They meet again Saturday night for the second game of the doubleheader, with first pitch set for 6:15 p.m.
ET at Yankee Stadium on FOX. After getting shut out twice, Boston now has a chance to finish Saturday with two wins and tighten the American League East race even more.
In Other News...
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Yankees Catcher Failure Looks Even Worse After This Deadline Decision
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Rosenthals reporting only sharpens the question of what New York passed on, because the path to Rutschman apparently existed if the Yankees were willing to part with major league talent. The catch was the cost, and with a farm system already thinned out, the front office seems to have decided the price was too steep. For Boston, the twist is obvious: Rutschman ended up going to the Red Sox, leaving the Yankees to answer for a deadline that addressed needs elsewhere but left one of their most glaring issues hanging in place. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Rotation Plan Around Sonny Gray Just Got More Interesting
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Sonny Gray has been central to that thinking. After putting together a career-high 16 wins with a 2.82 ERA, his next start is being pushed back to Sept. 5 as the Red Sox look to preserve his arm and manage workloads across the staff. With roster expansion also giving the team more flexibility, Boston appears ready to use every tool it has to keep its rotation lined up for the games that matter most. [Read more 🡒]