C.C. tosses a gem, Gary and Bird go deep as Yanks beat Boston 6-2

After getting swept by the Indians in a series in which the offense was nearly non existent, the Yanks were back at it Thursday night to begin arguably the most important four game series of the seasons thus far; a final four games vs the Red Sox at the Stadium. In a matchup of two lefties, C.C Sabathia was the superior southpaw, as he went six innings of one run baseball, leading the Yankees to the series opening victory over Boston by the score of 6-2.

Photo Credit: AP Craig Ruttle

C.C was in trouble right out of the gate, loading the bases with a couple of walks and an errant throw to first. Sabathia would bear down however and get Rafael Devers to strike out swinging on a perfectly placed breaking ball to keep the Sox off the board in the first. The Yanks would also threaten in the first but come away with nothing to show for it.

The scoring started in the third, on a play in which instant replay did not work in the Yankees favor. It seemed as if Sabathia got out of the inning with a beautiful double play ball to keep it scoreless. However, replay showed that Mookie Betts was safe by quite some distance and the call was overturned. Thus, the Red Sox struck first and took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the third.

Eduardo Rodriguez was dealing early on, and was frustrating the living hell out of Yankee hitters, especially after getting a line out double play off the bat off Aaron Hicks in the third. Everything seemed to be going Rodriguez’s way until the best offensive catcher in the American League stepped to the plate, and poked a ball to right field over the wall to make it a 1-1 game. Gary’s 28th home run of the year gave the Yanks a run they desperately needed, as it was the first time in two games this year that they scored a run against Rodriguez. 

Photo Credit: AP Craig Ruttle

The Yankees continued to chip away at Rodriguez in the fifth, with Brett Gardner and Hicks both getting base hits to put runners at the corner with Gary coming to the plate. Gary did not get the job done at the plate, popping a ball up to shallow right: yet lucky for him former Yankee Eduardo Nunez was playing second, and decided to completely misjudge the ball and allow it to drop, scoring Gardner from third and giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. The inning would continue after a Starlin infield hit, which would load the bases for the struggling Aaron Judge, with an opportunity to break the game wide open. Instead, Judge swung at the first pitch he saw and popped it up to first, and this time the Red Sox would make the play to keep their deficit at one.

Rodriguez came back out to pitch the bottom of the sixth, which turned out to be the wrong move, as Headley ripped a double off the wall, only missing a home run by feet. The next man to the plate was Greg Bird, who got himself his second home run in as many games to give the Yanks a 4-1 lead and knock Rodriguez out of the game. Didi would add an RBI single later in the inning to bring the Yankee lead to four entering the final three innings.

Photo Credit: AP Craig Ruttle

Sabathia's day was done after six, and the first Yankee reliever out of the pen was David Robertson, who got the Red Sox to go three up and three down in the seventh. The Yanks continued to add on insurance runs late in the game, with Bird registering a base hit that scored Judge to bring the score to 6-1. Yet, the Yanks could not tack on any more runs, as they would leave the bases loaded with nobody out after a Gardner double play lineout and a Hicks strikeout.

Robertson was back out for the eighth inning, and did not have the perfect inning he had in the seventh. D Rob walked the leadoff man, and then made an egregious error on the mound after not being able to grip the ball off a slow comebacker to him. Robertson would recover though, getting the next three batters out to keep the Yankee lead at five. 

Despite the Yankees being up by five in the ninth, Dellin Betances still got the ball, making his first appearance since Saturday: and it showed. Betances was back to his usual wild self, walking the first batter he faced before hitting the next two to load the bases with nobody out. After getting Nunez to strike out, Dellin walked Benintendi to plate the second Red Sox run of the game, making it 6-2. Betts would pop out for the second out of the inning, and would then get pinch hitter Mitch Moreland to fly out to left field with the bases loaded, ending the game with Yankee fans on the edge of their seats. 

The Yankees picked up a big win against their rivals in this one, as C.C improved to 8-0 after a Yankee loss, and continued his dominance of the Red Sox this season. The Yanks and Soxs are back at it tomorrow night, as Sonny Gray will look to make it back to back Yankee victories in the Bronx.

Winning Pitcher:  C.C Sabathia (11-5, 3.71 ERA): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 6 K

Losing Pitcher: Eduardo Rodriguez (4-5, 4.40 ERA): 5.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Notables:

Gary Sanchez: 2-5, HR (28), 2 RBI

Greg Bird:  2-4, HR (3), 3 RBI

Starlin Castro: 2-5

Chase Headley: 2-4, R

Article by: Matt Luzzi

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