After an eventful Wednesday night, the New York Yankees ran into Rick Porcello, who shut down their bats in the final game of the three-game series against Boston.
- New York Yankees (6-7): 3
- Boston Red Sox (10-2): 6
- FINAL, American League, Box Score
- Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Clearly the momentum from Wednesday night’s brawl did not shift over to tonight’s contest. The New York Yankees bats were silenced by a dominant Rick Porcello from start to finish.
With the Yankees and media anticipating the Yankees using that brawl as a spark moving forward, the game began with much excitement. Aaron Hicks had returned to the lineup, bringing some outfield reinforcements, and Sonny Gray was poised to take the mound and attack the zone.
Well, right away things weren’t working out in the Yankees’ favor. Rick Porcello shut down the lineup 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning. Now it was Sonny Gray’s turn.
Gray got into some trouble in the bottom of the first but escaped without giving up any runs. So far, it looked to be a pitcher’s duel. However, only one pitcher kept up that end of the bargain.
The bottom of the second fared much of the same for the Yankees, going down in order to Porcello. However, Gray didn’t get as lucky with his half inning, allowing four runs. The long ball was not a problem, as the majority of runs were manufactured by singles, sacrifice flies and aggressive baserunning.
Again, the Yankees came up with nothing against Porcello and again, Gray allowed a few more runs, bringing the Red Sox to a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
Gray gave up a single to Mitch Moreland and his night was promptly over. Gray left the game with only three innings under his belt, allowing seven hits, six runs and striking out three.
Replaced by Domingo German, the Yankees escaped the inning unscathed. However, they were still being no-hit by the on-point Rick Porcello, the 2016 Cy Young award winner.
Mercifully, the skies opened up and the tarp covered the field after the fifth inning. With a delay in game, the Yankees should be able to get regrouped and actually get a hit. Right?
Wrong. Once play resumed, promptly at 9:40 ET, Porcello returned to the mound with just 60 pitches under his belt. Picking up right where he left off, Porcello shut the Yanks down in order to end the top of the sixth, still not allowing a hit.
That is, until the top of the seventh, when Aaron Judge saved the day. Judge rocketed a double to center for the Yankees’ first hit of the night, followed up by a single from Giancarlo Stanton.
With the Yankees in business, it looked like the first run of the game would come in for the Bombers. Sadly, that rally was squelched with a fly ball and two strikeouts.
With the first impressive stint from the bullpen so far this season holding the Red Sox scoreless, the Yankees were still unable to push a run across until the very last minute.
Loading the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth, Gary Sanchez came through in the clutch, smashing a bases-clearing double to help the Yankees score their first runs of the evening and bring them within three.
A bases-clearing DOUBLE for Gary Sanchez. Yankees now trail 6-3 in the 9th.
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NOW we have a ballgame! The Red Sox were forced to bring in their closer, Craig Kimbrel, to clean up the mess. With Aaron Hicks grounding out to advance Sanchez to third, Neil Walker seemed to be a good bet at the plate.
However, Walker struck out and Tyler Wade, the final batter of the game, fell victim to Kimbrel, striking out to secure the victory for the Sox.
What’s Next:
The Yankees take their struggling bats on the road again as they travel to Detroit after tonight’s contest. They open up a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
The Bombers will send lefty Jordan Montgomery to the mound to redeem himself after last week’s poor performance at the Stadium. Monty gave up four runs in 4.1 innings pitched in their 8-7 extra-inning loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
The Tigers counter with 32-year-old Mike Fiers, who is coming off a six inning, three-hit performance against the Chicago White Sox on April 8.
The game can be seen on the YES Network and heard on WFAN 660/101.9 FM and WADO 1280.
