The Red Sox offense wasted no time this game, scoring four runs before recording an out. Right fielder Alex Verdugo began the game with a double. Third baseman Rafael Devers then singled sharply, advancing Verdugo to third. Designated hitter Justin Turner collected the first run batted in (RBI) of the night with a single, putting runners at first and second for left fielder Masataka Yoshida. At the plate with no outs, Yoshia hit a 376-foot home run to the short porch in right field, extending the Red Sox’s lead to 4-0.
In the five games that Turner has been back from a bone bruise in his foot, he has a batting average of .381 and two home runs. Turner said that the injury is not fully healed, and that he is just trying to play through the pain. So far, he is doing a pretty good job of that.
The Red Sox added to their lead one inning later, putting up three more runs, capitalizing on an error by Yankee second baseman Gleyber Torres. The error came with one out, putting second baseman Pablo Reyes at first base. Reyes advanced from first to third on a single from Verdugo and scored on the single from Devers, making it 5-0 Red Sox. The Red Sox added two more runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Turner and Yoshida, and all of a sudden, it was 7-0 Boston. After two innings, the top four hitters in the Red Sox lineup were a combined 8-8.
Bello had much more luck than Yankees’ starter Jhony Brito. Bello went six innings, allowing six hits while striking out four Yankees. As mentioned, this was a huge bounce back for Bello after he took a loss last Saturday against the Detroit Tigers, during which he only went 4 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits. Before this game, since the all-star break, Bello had a 5.67 Earned Run Average (ERA), which was the sixth worst of any starter in Major League Baseball. Bello needed to get back on track, and this game was a great sign of him doing so.
The game ended with the final score of 8-3 in the favor of the Red Sox. The Yankees’ pitching after Brito was very good, allowing only one run over six 2/3 innings. The Yankees scored two runs in the eighth inning off a home run by right fielder Aaron Judge. The ball only traveled 342 feet as he hit it to the short porch in right field. Judge’s home run would have only been a home run in Yankee Stadium, as the right field wall is one of the shortest in the MLB. Red Sox fans can’t complain too much though because Yoshida’s home run would have only gone out in three ballparks.
The Red Sox will look to win the series on Saturday, Aug. 19 as starter Kutter Crawford takes the mound. This will be the tenth day game that Crawford will pitch, and in day games, he has a 2.05 ERA, compared to his ERA of 5.48 at night. The Red Sox will face American League (AL) Cy Young frontrunner, starter Gerrit Cole. Cole has an ERA of 2.76 and has the third most strikeouts in the AL. The Red Sox have gotten the better of Cole in the past, as many fans remember the Sox beating Cole in the 2021 wild card game. Last year, Cole had an ERA over five against the Red Sox.
The Red Sox will look to bounce back after the series loss in Washington and take the series with back to back wins in the Bronx.
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