BOSTON- Nathan Eovaldi pitched his best game of the season lasting into the eighth inning, as the Boston Red Sox made it five wins in five tries against the New York Yankees so far on the season with a 4-2 win at Fenway Park Saturday night.
Kike Hernandez got the scoring started with a second inning sacrifice fly to score Xander Bogaerts. A hustle play by Rafeal Devers in the same inning extended the lead to 2-0. Bobby Dalbec popped out in foul territory to New York first baseman Luke Voit. Voit though held the ball too long, and Devers who was at third base broke for home plate and beat the late throw without a slide. Boston (46-31) would up the advantage on a Hunter Renfroe RBI infield single in the third, and a Bogaerts sacrifice fly in the seventh that made it 4-0. Eovaldi was in control for the most part, but the Yankees finally got on the board in the eighth when DJ LeMahieu hit a two out solo homer over the Red Sox bullpen in right. Hirokazu Sawumara came on to pitch and walked three straight batters to load the bases, forcing manager Alex Cora to make another change and bring in Adam Ottavino. Ottavino would retire Voit on a groundout to end the threat. LeMahieu singled in another run in the ninth, and New York (40-36) had two runners on with two outs with Aaron Judge at the plate, but Ottavino would strike him out to end the game.
Eovaldi (8-4) had a final stat line of 7.2 innings pitched allowing one run on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Ottavino got his fifth save. Bogaerts and Renfroe had three hits a piece to lead the offense. Connor Wong made his MLB debut at catcher and had a hit in his first plate appearance. LeMahieu had four hits and both RBI for New York in the loss. Jordan Montgomery (3-2) suffered the pitching defeat allowing three runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings. The Red Sox go for their second three game sweep over the Yankees on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. Boston sends LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4, 6.07 ERA) to the hill against RHP Gerrit Cole (8-3, 2.33) for New York.
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox- Fenway Park, June 26, 2021. Photos by Chris Lessner
