Boston began the series with a dramatic win on Thursday, coming back from three runs down in the ninth inning and earning a 7-5 win on Hanley Ramirez’s walk-off homer, and added another come-from-behind triumph in Saturday’s 6-5 triumph as Xander Bogaerts broke out of a deep slump.
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Red Sox slugger David Ortiz might get the night off when the AL East leaders try to finish a four-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park. Today, the Yankees’ AL East elimination number sits at 8 games and they’re four games back of the final wild-card spot, with three other teams in front of them.
The Red Sox overcame deficits three times in the series, including the opener, when they scored five in the ninth and Ramirez hit a game-ending, three-run homer.
The Yankees arrived here late Wednesday night with 77 victories and the belief that a good series against the Red Sox would cement their position as a playoff contender.
Ramirez now has 28 home runs this season, including 12 in his last 21 games. The home run was his 16th in 41 games and 156 at-bats.
Koji Uehara picked up his seventh save with a scoreless ninth. LHP Drew Pomeranz (2-5, 4.60) starts for Boston after allowing five runs over two innings Tuesday in a loss to Baltimore, his shortest start since he was acquired from San Diego in July. After Betts robbed Gardner, Sanchez lined a two-out single to left, but Teixeira, inserted for defense in the sixth, flied to center to end it. Rookie Gary Sanchez hit his 15th home run since his August 3 recall from the minors, a two-run drive. The shot followed a critical error by Sabathia.
NY opened a 5-2 lead on Austin Romine’s two-run double off the Green Monster in the fourth. The Boston bullpen owns a 1.06 ERA in September.
“Fortunately it was able to bounce over his head”, Betts said.
Girardi sent Sabathia, who was at 101 pitches, back out to start the sixth.
With the potential tying run on third base, Mookie Betts wanted to get the ball in the air.
David Ortiz was an honorary captain for the Patriots on Sunday. Pomeranz got his first taste of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry on August 10, when he held NY to one run over 5 1/3 innings but did not factor in the decision.
Sabathia allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings-plus. Sanchez made it 2-0 with two outs in the third, obliterating a first-pitch fastball over the Monster.
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Second baseman Starlin Castro left in the fifth inning after straining his right hamstring while rounding first base on a double.
