The New York Yankees are rolling and their big seventh inning in London led to a two-game sweep over the Boston Red Sox.
It took a little longer for the New York Yankees to wake up on Sunday in London, but the sleeping giant made itself known in a nine-run seventh inning. The Yanks entered the top of the seventh down 4-2, but that score wouldn’t hold.
It comes as no surprise, but DJ LeMahieu started the inning off by ripping a double to right field. A few batters later, Gary Sanchez stepped to the plate with one goal in mind: a towering home run. However, after taking a couple of big cuts in search of his 24th dinger, he shortened up his two-strike approach and delivered a go-ahead single.
The Kraken emerges in London.
MLB x @Mitel #LondonSeries pic.twitter.com/Ccuy7ldTZ7
— MLB (@MLB) June 30, 2019
The London Eye is one of the biggest tourist attractions in London, but the Yankee lineup is more like a merry-go-round than a ferris wheel. The Bronx Bombers would bat around for what felt like the 100th time in the last two games.
In his second at-bat in the inning, with the bases loaded this time, LeMahieu ripped a ground-rule double and pushed his RBI total to 61 to go along with his 12 home runs and .345 batting average
LeMahieu is one of the all-too-early candidates for American League MVP and he is one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball right now.
Over his last 22 games, LeMahieu is batting .424 with six home runs, 27 RBIs, and 25 runs. He could wind up as the best signing of this past offseason.
LeMahieu and the vaunted lineup will be the biggest story out of London, but Luis Cessa was the unsung hero on Sunday. The Yankees thrust Stephen Tarpley into the opener role after using Chad Green on Sunday. Tarpley allowed four runs in a pitiful first inning.
But Cessa had his back. The right-handed long reliever went four scoreless, nimbly working his way in and out of trouble. He induced ground balls when he needed to, held base runners on when they reached safely, and came up with two timely strikeouts.
Cessa won’t get the win for his performance, but he definitely deserves major credit for keeping the Yankees alive long enough for the lineup to explode. Despite another late surge from the Red Sox, the Yankees were able to hold on for a 12-8 victory.
The Yankees return to New York after an off day on Monday. They’ll head across town to Citi Field for a two-game set with the New York Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two sides split the first leg of the Subway Series earlier in June.
