More importantly, they find themselves at the bottom of the lowly American League East by three games (seven games out of first). After taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Rangers in his previous start, Eovaldi surrendered hits to the first Sox batters he faced.
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Most folks stuck around to see Miller escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth, down 3-and-1 to David Ortiz.
Home plate umpire Ron Kulpa called the pitch a strike, much to the displeasure of Ortiz, who wasn’t shy about voicing his complaints. Farrell came from the tunnel, along with several Red Sox players, to push Big Papi back to the dugout. Farrell came out of the dugout upset and was ejected. Yankees closer Andrew Miller proceeded to strike out Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez in succession to win the game. He began yelling. Farrell came charging out of the dugout, picking up the argument on Ortiz’s behalf.
Earlier, the Red Sox had taken exception to a number of balls-and-strikes calls by Kulpa, believing that he erred in a called third strike on Jackie Bradley Jr.in the eighth, and a called third strike on Ramirez, also in the eighth. After a disappointing first season in Boston, Porcello has started 2016 as the team’s hottest pitcher, winning all five of his starts with a sparkling 2.76 ERA.
Aaron Hicks hit a tiebreaking home run off Rick Porcello (5-1) leading off the seventh inning, sparking Yankee Stadium’s new lights to flash like strobes at a rock concert.
Two innings later, tempers flared as the game turned tense and testy.
“My heart’s still racing”, Miller said a half-hour after the final out.
“We’ll see how many innings he can go”, Ventura said before Friday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees also said DH Alex Rodriguez’s strained right hamstring is considered a grade 1-plus after team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad read the results of the MRI…. After Mookie Betts took a called third strike, Dustin Pedroia singled and Xander Bogaerts reached on a pop to short center that glanced off the glove of sliding shortstop Didi Gregorius for a single. His next pitch was a nasty slider that crossed up catcher Brian McCann, who was expecting a fastball.
For the first time this season, the Yankees are playing a team for the second time. This was a familiar script, and one that usually meant an unhappy ending for the team wearing pinstripes.
“The bad thing about it is that the whole world watches these games”, Ortiz said. “We’ve been struggling. We got the big hit, and I thought it was important that we win this game tonight”. The last 10 games have really brought the best out of the Boston pitchers.
All wasn’t lost for Ortiz: He hit his 510th career home run, passing Gary Sheffield at No. 25 on the all-time home run list. 088 with no extra-base hits and two RBIs in 34 at-bats when he sent a hanging changeup over the Yankees bullpen and into the right-field bleachers.
The speeches and the parting gifts are nice, but what people need to realize is that Ortiz is like the Death Star in “The Return of the Jedi” – fully armed and operational. However, he’s batted. 237 with 12 homers in 52 at new Yankee Stadium. Said Ortiz: “I can understand one time but not two”.
– The Braves have lost eight straight games at home and now have a 1-13 mark at Turner field, by far the worst home record in all of baseball.
The left-hander has given up at least five runs in half of his six starts, and he holds a 4.17 ERA in 32 career appearances against the Yankees.
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Here’s an example: Joe Girardi used Dellin Betances for a third day in a row for the first time.
