On a night that Dustin Pedroia was back in the ballpark to have his #15 retired and be named to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in a pre-game ceremony, Boston would make it a rememberable evening with a 5-3 win over the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in the first of a three game weekend series before the first sellout crowd of the season.
Boston (45-31) broke out to a 3-0 first inning lead off New York starter Domingo German. Michael Chavis and Alex Verdugo both singled to start it, and then with one out Xander Bogaerts nailed a two-run double to left center. With two outs, Hunter Renfoe also doubled to score Bogaerts. The Yankees (40-35) answered with a three spot in the top of the second off Martin Perez on two walks, including one with the bases loaded and a two-run single to right by DJ LeMahieu. Renfoe had a sacrifice fly that scored JD Martinez in the third that ended up as the game winner. The hosts added on some insurance in the eighth with a two out RBI single from Christian Vazquez. Matt Barnes, who was the tough luck loser on a wild pitch walk-off in the 1-0 loss at Tampa Bay Thursday night, allowed a leadoff infield single in the ninth inning followed by a hard single to left by Miguel Andujar. The right hander would settle in though and strike out Clint Frazier, and got LeMahieu to ground into a double play to end it. The Sox have taken the first four matchups of the season so far with the Yankees.
Perez in his no decision allowed three runs (none earned) on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Garrett Whitlock (3-1) got the win in relief, Adam Ottavino got his 14th hold, and Barnes his 16th save. The bullpen between Hirokazu Sawumara, Whitlock, Ottavino, and Barnes only allowed three hits and struck out seven and only walked one in a total of 5.1 innings. Vazquez had two hits. Andujar had three hits in the loss for New York, while Luke Voit and Gio Urshela had two a piece. German (4-5) took the loss allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits in 4.0 innings. Game two is Saturday night at 7:15. The Sox will send RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7-4, 3.90 ERA) to the hill, while the Yankees counter with LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-1, 4.03). Chris Lessner will be at that game and will provide photos of the action along with a recap.
