“It’s more the finishing action of the pitch”, Red Sox manager John Farrell said, adding that Price is healthy. “On a night where the conditions were ideal, where there was minimal wind, he was in the strike zone a lot with a pretty active and violent knuckleball at times”. “There was a little bit of breeze but it was nearly like throwing inside”, Wright said.
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Severino pitched ok, but he could have been better. In the 4th inning the Sox gave him another run when David Ortiz hit a solo home run to right field.
He almost threw a complete game shutout as Boston won 5-1 over the Yankees in front of 41,869.
He struck out nine batters over six and two-thirds innings, allowing four runs on five hits and one walk. “It’s nice”, Wright said.
“I actually think the kid is really close”, Girardi said of Severino’s fastball command and improving changeup and breaking pitches. Those guys have been doing it for years. He had a nice start against the Orioles, and I think this was another step forward. The offense managed just two runs off Yankees starter Nathan Eovaldi on a seeing-eye single by Brock Holt and a solo homer from Jackie Bradley Jr.
By then, the Red Sox (18-13) had a 4-0 lead and Castro wound up getting himself picked off third base by catcher Ryan Hanigan.
Blasting two home runs Sunday evening, the 40-year-old slugger is just the sixth player in history to hit at least 50 home runs in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. He retired Aaron Hicks on an inning-ending double play in the second and quickly retired the next nine hitters.
Farrell on why he didn’t leave the dugout after he was ejected Friday night: “Great finish to a game”, he said.
The right-hander struck out seven, walked one and threw 66 of 101 pitches for strikes.
New York Yankees right fielder Carlos Beltran (36) tries to field Boston Red Sox’s Dustin Pedroia’s first-inning two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game in New York, Sunday, May 8, 2016.
The first shot was in the fourth inning on a 1-2 fastball from Severino at 97 miles per hour and was punished to right-center field, a majestic watch-it-go shot for a 3-0 lead. “But I know things are going to turn around”. “Sometimes you start good”.
The Red Sox got more run support for their lead with a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning by Xander Bogearts that made it 5-0. The second homer gave him 51 career multi-homer games and 512 long balls for his career, moving Ortiz past Hall of Famer Mel Ott and into a tie with Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks for 22nd on the all-time list. He’s in such a good groove, so many balls he’s squaring up, he’s hit hard.
The knuckleballer is 2-3 on the season, however, he has allowed just six earned runs in 32.1 innings of work while striking out 31 batters in five starts. He gave up three earned runs and six hits, including two homers, over 5 2/3 innings against Rochester. Boston RHP Joe Kelly (right shoulder impingement) will make his second rehab start for Pawtucket on Wednesday.
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Star reliever Aroldis Chapman is set to return Monday from suspension, but the Yankees still have some problems to sort out before getting too excited about their marquee offseason acquisition.
