NEW YORK — The New York Yankees salvaged a win Sunday night after a rough weekend against the Boston Red Sox in a divisional matchup with significant postseason implications.
Carlos Rodón quieted the Red Sox offense and Dustin May gave up three homers as the Yankees won 7-2 to avoid their first sweep of four games or more by the Red Sox at home since 1939.
“Three out of four, that’s the business we’re in,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Now we’ve got to turn the page and go do it in Baltimore.”
The Red Sox sit a half-game up on the Yankees for the top wild-card spot in the American League.
With wins in the first three games of the four-game set, Boston clinched the season series between the teams. In doing so, the Red Sox now own the tiebreaker over the Yankees for playoff-seeding purposes. If the teams — which meet again Sept. 12-14 in Boston — finish with the same record, the Red Sox will have the higher seed.
Here are key takeaways and questions for both teams following this series and with five weeks to go in the regular season.
Questions at the back of the Red Sox rotation
Dustin May looks down after allowing his third home run of the night. (Vincent Carchietta / Getty Images)
In the worst of his four starts with the Red Sox, May lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs, including three home runs, two to Yankees leadoff hitter Trent Grisham.
“I think his fastball command was off,” Cora said of May, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline. “He didn’t get the fastball where he wanted to and obviously that’s what (the Yankees) do. They hit the ball out of the ballpark.”
May’s first start following the trade was only 3 2/3 innings, but he had pitched consecutive six-inning starts allowing just two runs total. Sunday marked a step backward, particularly following two strong starts from Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet.
“It’s not fun being out there and not being able to throw it where you want to go,” May said. “It’s not a good feeling, especially against a team that hammers bad in-zone pitches.”
With Buehler moved on Friday from the rotation to the bullpen, the backend of the Red Sox rotation remains in flux. Most teams don’t have five starters who make 30 starts apiece each season, of course, but given where it sits in the standings, Boston needs its final two starters to produce over the next five weeks.
Buehler, meanwhile, made his first relief appearance Sunday, entering with two outs in the sixth. He got a one-pitch popup and remained in the game through the eighth before running into trouble, allowing a single and a two-run homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr.
A frustrated Buehler declined to comment after the game, but Cora remained positive about the outing, noting there will be a transition period for Buehler in his new role. Buehler closed out the final inning of the World Series for the Dodgers in New York last October, but hasn’t pitched in relief in the regular season since 2018.
“The most important thing with him is how he’s going to bounce back,” Cora said. “This is a first for him, and we have to be patient in the beginning. I don’t want to say ease his way into the role, but we have to be smart, because we want to keep him healthy.”
Buehler would have started on Monday, but the fifth starter spot is now in flux. Lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino will serve as an opener on Monday in Baltimore against a lefty-heavy Orioles lineup. Righty Richard Fitts is expected to follow Bernardino in a bulk role.
A muted celebration
The Yankees weren’t exactly popping champagne after the win.
Their typical post-victory playlist blared over the clubhouse speakers — a collection highlighted by George Benson’s classic “Give Me The Night” and “I Get Money” by 50 Cent. There were some smiles, and likely some relief that the last-place Washington Nationals were on their way to the Bronx for a three-game set that begins Monday.
Manager Aaron Boone offered a surprising answer when asked how good it was to finally beat the Red Sox, shrugging before he spoke.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Definitely not the weekend we wanted to have.”
Grisham pondered for nine seconds after he was asked how big of a victory it was.
“I think it was a good win,” he said.
“We definitely needed this win tonight,” Chisholm said.
The careful vibes were warranted.
The Yankees had finally played a clean game after committing five errors in the first three games of the series. They hit four home runs — improving to 13-2 this season when they hit at least that many blasts in a game. They also received a good enough performance from Rodón, who went 5 2/3 innings and gave up two runs but also walked five and struck out three. Their bullpen held together, featuring strong appearances from Devin Williams (two strikeouts) and Luke Weaver (three strikeouts) and a shaky ninth inning from Camilo Doval (two hits, two strikeouts).
Bronx Bombers
Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge celebrate after Grisham’s fifth-inning homer. (John Jones / Imagn Images)
Chisholm and Grisham each hit a pair of home runs. For Chisholm, the blasts were the 100th and 101st of his career. Although Chisholm smiled after the game, he was also somber following the death of a person he called “his best friend.” He said the person died Saturday, but declined to say who it was.
“It felt kind of surreal,” he said.
It was Grisham’s fourth multi-homer game of the season after entering the year with just two over his previous six seasons. His 25 homers are a career high.
“This is a former first-round pick,” Boone said of Grisham. “Talented guy. Everyone’s trajectory is not like this (pointing up). It’s a hard game. Hitting in the big leagues is hard. You see countless examples of guys finding themselves, really figuring it out a little bit, especially offensively, as their career unfolds. He’s had success. He’s hit for some power. But, certainly, this is the best offensive season by a lot that he’s had.”
The Yankees have hit an MLB-best 215 homers. They entered Sunday having scored 48.6 percent of their runs via home runs, slightly up from last year’s mark of 48.2 percent.
An underrated signing continues to produce
Nathaniel Lowe is 7-for-16 with seven RBIs since joining the Red Sox. (Vincent Carchietta / Getty Images)
Monday marks one week since chief baseball officer Craig Breslow signed Nathaniel Lowe, and the 30-year-old has not been short on impact early in his Red Sox tenure.
Sunday, Lowe produced Boston’s only two runs on the night with a two-run, pinch-hit single in the sixth following walks from Romy Gonzalez and Alex Bregman.
He’s reached base in 10 of 20 plate appearances in six games since joining the team, recording at least one hit in each of his last five games. They’ve been meaningful hits, too, including a game-tying, two-run homer in the ninth inning in his second game with Boston on Tuesday and a go-ahead RBI double on Friday in New York.
After hitting .216 with a .665 OPS in 119 games with Washington, Lowe was designated for assignment and eventually released. The Red Sox quickly signed him to bolster the first base position.
“I was telling (Breslow) that his WAR went up the last few days,” Cora joked. “We saw an opportunity to improve in that position. And, so far, so good. He’s been great coming off the bench, putting good at-bats. He’s a good defender, seems like he’s happy, he’s having fun and we’re gonna keep trying to help him to keep improving.”
The Red Sox signed Lowe, who owns a .753 OPS against right-handers, to platoon at first base alongside Gonzalez, who has a 1.017 OPS versus lefties this season. Lowe also will see some time at designated hitter.
Through six games, he’s pinch hit three times, started at first base twice and started at DH once. Whatever his role, he’s continued to produce.
“Coming up in Tampa, I had a similar type role,” he said. “You got to be ready all the time. So if it’s everyday at-bats, if it’s pinch hitting at-bats, as long as it’s winning at-bats, that’s the only thing that matters.”
Red Sox to receive roster reinforcements in Baltimore
Barring any setbacks, the Red Sox are expecting multiple reinforcements this week during their four-game trip to Baltimore. Outfielder Rob Refsnyder, who’s been out with an oblique strain, is eligible to come off the injured list on Monday and Cora said it’s likely he’ll join the team without needing a rehab assignment. Refsnyder has continued to crush left-handers this season, to the tune of a .905 OPS, and has started at DH against them. The Red Sox will face righty starters in the first three games against the Orioles, but Cora said he’ll likely get pinch-hit at-bats.
Meanwhile, outfielder Wilyer Abreu is eligible to return on Thursday. Abreu (calf strain) ramped up his baseball activities this weekend in New York. Without Refsnyder and Abreu, the Red Sox had promoted top outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garica, who went 0-for-4 with two walks and four strikeouts this weekend, and utilityman Nate Eaton. Both figure to be optioned when Abreu and Refsnyder return.
Reliever Justin Slaten, who has been sidelined since June 1 with shoulder/neck inflammation, will be re-evaluated on Monday and could join the team in Baltimore. Slaten made his third rehab appearance for Triple-A Worcester on Sunday, pitching a scoreless inning with two fly outs and a groundout. Adding Slaten to the backend of the bullpen, alongside Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman, would be a significant boost.
Volpe to sit again
Struggling shortstop Anthony Volpe was benched Sunday, and he won’t start Monday versus the Nationals. He said he was told the Yankees plan to sit him until Tuesday.
“I mean, I just found out,” he said Sunday night. “It was pretty raw, and as a competitor, and as someone who takes pride and wants to be out there everyday, you take it on the chin and you look for the positives. If I do what I’ve got to do, it’ll be what it is. So it’s all on me.”
José Caballero started in Volpe’s place Sunday and went hitless in three at-bats, but his fourth-inning sacrifice fly scored Giancarlo Stanton. When Volpe entered in the top of the eighth inning, Caballero moved to right field to give Stanton some rest.
“I keep saying he’s a really good player,” Boone said of Caballero. “A winning, championship-caliber — the kind of 10th man you want who can go legit play defense at four or five different spots and be good at it, kind of give you a little something in the batter’s box too and then obviously what he’s able to do on the bases. Just a heady player, and really complements our team really well.”
(Top photo of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s second-inning home run: Vincent Carchietta / Getty Images)
Source link
