New York Yankees 3, Boston Red Sox 2
The AL East-leading Yankees beat the Red Sox 3-2 on Saturday, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa hitting his first career homer for New York and driving in the winning run with a safety squeeze in the ninth inning.
It was Aaron Boone’s 400th career win with the Yankees, and it came during this game.
Boston had won its previous two games, the most recent of which was a thrilling 3-2 victory over New York in 10 innings on Friday. Alex Verdugo contributed two hits for the Red Sox.
New York’s Andrew Benintendi‘s one-out double against John Schreiber started New York’s winning rally (3-2). Benintendi scored on a headfirst slide after Jose Trevino reached on an infield hit and Kiner-Falefa bunted perfectly to first.
Aroldis Chapman (1-3) earned the win thanks to his four strikeouts. The ninth inning was a rough one, but Scott Effross was able to secure his second save.
With one out in the ninth inning, Boston’s Reese McGuire and Tommy Pham each hit a single to advance the team to scoring position. However, Xander Bogaerts was unable to reach first base safely, and Rafael Devers grounded into a fielder’s choice.
When Benintendi returned to Fenway Park for the second time since being traded from the Red Sox in February 2021, he made a spectacular diving catch in left field.
Aaron Judge, a slugger for the Yankees, went 0 for 2 with two walks the day after hitting his major league-leading 46th home run. Three times in the previous five games, he had reached base safely.
When Kiner-shot Falefa’s to left field scored Benintendi in the fifth inning, the Yankees evened the score from a 2-0 deficit. Kiner-Falefa has been with New York since March, when they got him from Minnesota in a trade.
When Jarren Duran was struck in the back of the leg by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, McGuire drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Sunday’s series finale will feature Yankees right-hander Jameson Taillon (11-2, 3.95 ERA) on the mound. It appears that Boston will be using right-hander Michael Wacha (6-1, 2.69 ERA) in their next game. Since early July, he has been out due to inflammation in his right shoulder.
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