BOSTON — The Red Sox earned a 6-5 win over the New York Yankees on Saturday, but the way they pulled ahead was rather unconventional.
Boston was down 5-4 entering the seventh inning when Xander Bogaerts hit a leadoff double. Mookie Betts eventually brought the shortstop home to tie the game, and the Red Sox kept putting up hits and advancing runners until Betts and Hanley Ramirez were on second and third with two outs.
Yankees reliever Adam Warren then threw a wild pitch to catcher Sandy Leon, which scored Betts easily for the go-ahead run. However, Ramirez got a little ambitious after the fact.
The signature Ramirez moment was more amusing than frustrating, and even more so when the Red Sox wound up with the win. But hearing about the play from Betts’ point of view might be even better.
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know at any point that he was coming behind me,” Betts said, suppressing a laugh. “I thought the play was over, and then I just saw him walking, the team walking off the field. I thought they called me out for some reason. Yeah, I didn’t know he was doing that.”
“I was very surprised,” Betts added. “But, hey, trying to scratch away another run. Any way we can get an advantage, we’ll take it.”
At the end of the day, Betts has the right attitude about the play. Even Red Sox manager John Farrell admitted it was a good move, as catcher Austin Romine was wandering lazily back to the plate after Betts scored.
“That’s the reason he took off,” Farrell said. “Because when Romine went to retrieve the ball after Mookie scores, he’s walking back towards home plate with his head down, and actually I thought it was a good heads-up risky play on Hanley’s part. Comes up short, but I thought he had the accurate and right read on Romine’s maybe awareness or lack thereof in the moment.”
Guess we’ll have to add this one to the “Hanley being Hanley” highlight reel.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
