Michael Wacha fired 7.0 shutout innings in his first start in over a month, Rafael Devers had a two-run homerun, and Tommy Pham had three hits as the Boston Red Sox blanked the New York Yankees 3-0 at Fenway Park on Sunday night. Boston takes two of three over New York on the weekend, their first American League East series win on the season that went more than one game. The Sox beat Baltimore on Thursday in a one game makeup, that the Elias Bureau considered a series victory.
Boston (57-59) scored the only run they ended up needing in the bottom of the first inning. Tommy Pham led off with a double against Jameson Taillon, Devers grounded out to get Pham to third base, and Xander Bogaerts drove him in with an RBI groundout for a 1-0 lead. Wacha did his thing on the hill, making his first appearance since June 28. He struckout two batters in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings and didn’t give up a hit until a two out single by Miguel Andujar in the fifth. The right hander only allowed one runner to get into scoring position. The Red Sox got some insurance when Pham singled the lead off the sixth, and then Devers turned around a 3-2 fastball from Taillon and hit it over the bullpen in right field for a two-run homer his 25th of the year. Ryan Brasier worked a perfect eighth inning, and Garrett Whitlock did the same in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts to pick up the save. The game only went two hours and 15 minutes, the shortest game Boston has had in four seasons.
Wacha (7-1) allowed just two hits with one walk and nine strikeouts. It was the eighth hold for Brasier, and the fourth save for Whitlock. Devers had two hits to go along with the three from Pham. Taillon (11-3) took the loss for New York giving up three runs on six hits in 7.0 innings. The Yankees are now 72-43, and still have a stranglehold on the division with a 10 game lead over second place Toronto. Boston has Monday off before opening up a three game interleague series in Pittsburgh against the Pirates on Tuesday night at 7:05. Nick Pivetta (8-9, 4.51 ERA) toes the rubber in the opener, as Pittsburgh counters with Mitch Keller (4-8, 4.25).
