However, the Yankees ended up gift-wrapping the game for the Dodgers in the ninth, and eventually lost 2-0 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York.
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The Boston Red Sox battle the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Thursday action.
Two batters later, Turner scored when Yankees reliever Delin Betances fielded an easy comebacker in front of the mound and tossed the ball over the head of his catcher and to the backstop. They’re two back in the race for the second wild card. Next up, they begin an 11-game trip – their longest of the season – to Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto.
It was a plan, manager Joe Girardi said at the time, that would be used to keep players fresh and take advantage of Hicks’ ability to hit from both sides of the plate-Ellsbury and left fielder Brett Gardner strictly hit left-handed, and Hicks would face lefty starters.
“I think we talk about matchups a lot”, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Yet they still only managed two more hits and fell 2-0 in the rubber game to the NL West leaders, with both runs being unearned in the ninth.
Kershaw did not factor in the decision, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts and no walks in just his second start since coming off the disabled list last week.
Kershaw walked none in his first career start at Yankee Stadium and exited with a 1.81 ERA.
Sabathia held the Dodgers’ lineup to no runs on three hits and struck out seven while walking just one for his eighth win on the season. He returned to the mound for the fourth after a brief 12-minute rain delay and again after the second, 48-minute delay following the top of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Didi Gregorius dropped a sacrifice bunt to put them into scoring position.
Kenley Jansen worked the ninth and survived a scare by the Yankees to earn his career-best 44th save of the season.
Los Angeles left-hander Rich Hill has put aside his disappointment over being pulled with a ideal game and looks to continue his hot pitching when the Dodgers open a four-game series against the host Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
In the ninth, Dellin Betances (3-5) was pitching, and Corey Seager opened by a reaching on a sinking liner off Starlin Castro’s glove that went for an error. Justin Turner then snuck a double down the third base line allowing Seager to score, 1 – 0 Dodgers.
Turner moved to third on a fly ball.
“Every loss is a tough one now. Obviously we’re trying to make a push here for the playoffs, so it definitely hurts”, Betances said. Hill has won nine straight decisions, and was pulled with a flawless game in progress after seven innings at Miami in his last start because of concerns about a recurring blister.
Nick Swisher hung around with his former Yankees teammates during batting practice. So who better to be in attendance than Bill Murray himself.
Yankees rookie right fielder Aaron Judge is likely done for the regular season because of a strained oblique. “He had a little something with his left shoulder and when he was in Oklahoma City there was a couple swings that he took that got something triggered behind his left shoulder, but he said he was adamant about staying in the game and said that there was nothing to it”, Roberts said.
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NY begins a bruising trip when RHP Masahiro Tanaka (13-4, 3.04) starts at Fenway Park against Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-7, 4.70) on Thursday night.
