YANKEES WIN 3 OUT OF 4 AGAINST RED SOX

Thursday night the Yankees kicked off a 4 game series in the Bronx against the Boston Red Sox. Nestor Cortes got the start against Cooper Criswell. Cortes pitched well, giving up only 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 9 in five innings. Criswell also pitched well, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and striking out 4 in 5 1/3 innings. The Yankees used 4 relief pitchers to close out the game while the Red Sox used 6 as the game went into extra innings. Gleyber Torres hitting lead off hit a solo home run in the first inning. Danny Jansen hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to tie the game. The Yankees pulled out the win in the tenth inning with a walk off RBI single by Juan Soto. Final score 2-1.

In another close game between the Yankees and Red Sox on Friday night, we saw Aaron Judge break his 16 game streak of no home runs when he hit a grand slam in the seventh inning. Prior to that the game was 0-0 until Masataka Yoshida hit a 2 run home run in the sixth inning. Trevor Story also hit a 2 run home run in the seventh inning. That same inning Gleyber Torres hit a RBI single and then Judge’s grand slam put the Yankees up by 1. The Yankees won 5-4. Clarke Schmidt got his second start from returning off the injured list. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, gave up 2 runs and struck out 5. Mark Leiter Jr. pitched 1 1/3 innings and gave up 2 runs and struck out 2. Luke Weaver pitched a stellar eighth and ninth inning, giving up 1 hit and striking out 5. Leiter earned the win and Weaver earned the save.

Saturday’s game did not go well for Gerrit Cole and the Yankees. Gleyber Torres continued his hitting streak with a RBI single in the third inning, putting the Yankees up 1-0. But it was the fourth inning that Cole started to unravel. With one out Cole intentionally walked Rafael Devers because Devers has a good hitting record against Cole. Devers was hit by a pitch in the first inning as well. After that, Tyler O’Neill walked, Masataka Yoshida hit a RBI ground rule double and Wilyer Abreu hit a 2 run single. The Red Sox were now winning by 2. The next inning Trevor Story hit a single, Danny Jansen walked and Jarren Duran was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded Devers hit a 2 run single. Yoshida also hit a 2 run single. The Red Sox won this game 7-1. Cole gave up 7 runs in 4 1/3 innings and earned his 5th loss. His plan to avoid Devers backfired. This was the most runs he has given up since June 9, 2022.

Closing out the series on Sunday with another close game was Carlos Rodon against Kutter Crawford. Rodon pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up 2 runs and struck out 5. Crawford pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up 4 runs and struck out 7. In the second inning Giancarlo Stanton hit a RBI double putting the Yankees up 1-0. They added 3 more runs in the third inning with a solo home run by Gleyber Torres and a 2 run home run by Aaron Judge (his 53rd). Tyler O’Neill hit a 2 run home run in the fourth inning putting the Red Sox down by 2. Stanton hit a RBI sacrifice fly in the seventh inning adding another run for the Yankees. The final score was 5-2, Yankees won. The Yankees used 5 relievers to close out the game and combined they pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Rodon earned his 15th win and Tommy Kahnle earned the save.

The Baltimore Orioles lost to the Detroit Tigers so the Yankees remain in first place in the AL East by 3 games. They will get Monday off before heading into a 3 game series against the Seattle Mariners.