As of 8:30 p.m. August 24
The Boston Red Sox faced the New York Yankees this past weekend in a timeless showdown between the two rivals. The Red Sox have steadily led the American League East for the past few weeks, competing with the Yankees this season to secure the top spot in that division, which gives them an automatic spot in the playoffs. The race has been close between the rivals —the Red Sox own a 73-53 record this season while the Yankees have a record of 68-58, putting five games between them.
The Sox took two out of three games from the Yankees this past weekend, pulling away in the standings with the Yankees now five games back in the standings. The three-game series kicked off on Friday with a 9-6 win for the Red Sox over the Yankees. The game was dominated by homers with rookie Rafael Devers starting the scoring off for the Red Sox in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run shot. Christian Vasquez continued the scoring for the Red Sox in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run. It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Yankees managed to get on the board with a two-run homerun to left-center field by Todd Frazier. The Yankees came back in the top of the seventh inning, with scoring started by a homerun from Gary Sanchez. The Yankees scoring exploded, earning them a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Unfortunately for the Yankees, the Red Sox answered with 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and secured their victory with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 9-6 win.
The Red Sox weren’t as lucky against the Yankees on Saturday with a close 3-4 loss. The loss went to the Red Sox star pitcher Chris Sale, who has 14 wins and five losses this season, while the Yankees’ southpaw CC Sabathia earned the win. The Yankees struck early, with a three-run homerun by Tyler Austin in the second inning. The Red Sox finally answered in the fifth inning with two runs to put them on the board, but the Yankees’ Todd Frazier answered back in the sixth inning with a solo home run for insurance. The Red Sox couldn’t muster up more than a solo homerun in the seventh inning by Rafael Devers, handing the Yankees a narrow win.
The Red Sox ultimately took the series Sunday with a comfortable 5-1 win over the Yankees. The Red Sox chipped away at their win, with two runs in the second inning, one in the sixth inning and two in the eighth inning. The only run for the Yankees came in the top of the fifth inning when Brett Gardner hit a solo homerun over the right field wall. However, the Yankees couldn’t seem to get ahold of anything from Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello, who went six innings in Sunday’s game.
The Red Sox face the Yankees again on August 31 in a four-game series at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York.
