This one was worse than that.
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That the New York Yankees are in the thick of the race, however, is another matter entirely. It might have killed.
His last start against the Toronto Blue Jays was a dud, but Buchholz came up big Friday in a 7-4 win over the New York Yankees, surrendering just two runs over six innings.
After Gausman’s eight innings of dominance, closer Zach Britton took care of business as usual in the ninth, retiring the heart of the Red Sox lineup – David Ortiz, Betts and Hanley Ramirez – in 1-2-3 fashion.
GM Brian Cashman noted before Friday’s game that offense was a Yankee bugaboo prior to the deadline and Gary Sanchez’s emergence helped make it better. Here’s where things get spicy.
Starter Luis Cessa lasted five innings, allowing three runs on six hits. Betances just didn’t have it tonight.
With just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, it would seem unlikely that Wright will pitch before the final day on the schedule, October 2. The 23-year-old’s third four-hit game raised his average to.349 in 58 games. “To make one run hold up, that’s pretty fun to watch”. He was throwing good pitches.
Going right: Red Sox relievers, which had been a problem earlier, had the best bullpen ERA in the majors from September 1-13, at 0.94 across 28 1/3 innings.
Well, Betances’ outing turned out to be more horrific than anyone could have imagined.
The Boston Red Sox won a huge game on Thursday night as they defeated the New York Yankees, 7-5, in the first of a four-game series at Fenway Park.
Every win matters at this point with the American League East race so close, so Buchholz’s resurgence is coming at the ideal time.
The Yankees fell behind early and failed to come all the way back, falling to the Red Sox for the second straight day, this time 7-4 on Friday night.
To paraphrase the Humphrey Bogart character at the end of “Casablanca”, this could be the start of a disgusting weekend. Ortiz also had an RBI single off Dellin Betances (3-6) in the ninth. Obviously, I’m trying to see if I can beat (Ramirez) with the heater, and he was right on it.
“Obviously, you know when you play at this level, you can’t miss your spots because when you do, they usually hit them out”, Cessa said after the game. He was right on it. Porcello made just one mistake – a hanging pitch to Mark Trumbo to lead off the second inning that Trumbo demolished over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street.
To their credit, the Yankees tried to put a courageous face on this one.
We now have a 5-4 game and runners on second and third, with two outs.
“We’re fighting for our lives”, Girardi correctly pointed out following the Betances ninth-inning meltdown. I’m very confident we’re going to come out ready to play. “We all know he’s a good hitter, man”.
Ramirez drove in two runs total while Ortiz, Travis Shaw and Sandy Leon each had an RBI for the Red Sox.
“You really don’t have a choice”, Girardi said of the closer’s creed. “It was a game we had in hand, and we had a chance to blow it open, and we didn’t do it”.
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By taking the first two games of this four-game set, the AL East-leading Red Sox (83-64) extended their lead to six games on the Yanks (77-70) with 15 games remaining. “That was definitely a tough loss”.
