The Boston Red Sox made a statement Saturday night.
After a bitter defeat Friday, the Red Sox turned things around, crushing the New York Yankees around en route to an 11-0 victory at Yankee Stadium, evening the three-game set heading into Sunday night’s finale.
The outcome hardly was in doubt, as Rafael Devers drilled a first-inning grand slam and Boston continued to pour on runs from there. Meanwhile, starter Chris Sale throttled New York, holding it scoreless over seven innings.
With the win, the Red Sox climb to 56-28, while the Yankees fall to 53-27.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Turnaround.
After an 8-1 beatdown at the hands of the Yankees on Friday, the Sox turned it around and gave New York a beating of its own Saturday.
ON THE BUMP
— Sale was nothing short of dazzling Saturday night. The Sox ace pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out 11.
The only trouble Sale got into was in the first, as he hit leadoff batter Aaron Hicks, then allowed him to reach second on a Giancarlo Stanton single with one down. But the left-hander then retired the next two batters to get out of the inning without any damage.
From there, Sale really settled in and started cruising, posting 1-2-3 innings every frame from the third through the seventh.
— Heath Hembree struck out and walked one in a hitless, scoreless eighth.
— Hector Velazquez allowed a hit in a scoreless ninth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— It looked like the Red Sox were going to go quietly in the first inning, but that quickly changed with two outs. J.D. Martinez singled, Mitch Moreland walked and Xander Bogaerts singled to load the bases, bringing up Devers. The third baseman got a 1-2 curveball over the outside edge of the plate and took it the other way and into the seats for a grand slam.
— Boston added to its lead in the second, beginning with a Sandy Leon double to lead off the inning. After a Mookie Betts walk with one out, Andrew Benintendi singled to right, scoring Leon from second to make it 5-0 and moving Betts to third. Martinez then hit a sacrifice fly the next-at bat to plate Betts and up the score to 6-0.
— The Red Sox nearly added another run in the third, putting runners on the corners with one out. Leon launched a fly ball into right center, and though Bogaerts was given the stop sign on a tag-up from third base, he went anyway and was thrown out by Aaron Judge.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. posted a one-out single in the sixth inning, followed by a walk from Betts. With two down, Martinez drove in another run, scoring Bradley from second on a single to make it 7-0.
— Leon added some more insurance in the seventh, launching a two-run moonshot into the second deck in right to make it 9-0.
— For good measure, Martinez added one more in the eighth, driving in Betts on a single after the right fielder led off the inning with a single of his own.
— After Devers tallied his fifth hit of the game in the ninth, Brock Holt — who entered the game an inning earlier at second as a defensive replacement — drove him in from second after the second baseman advanced on a passed ball.
— Devers led all Sox with five hits, while Martinez had three of his own. Betts, Bogaerts and Leon added two apiece.
— Benintendi, Bradley and Holt all had one hit.
— Moreland and Eduardo Nunez went hitless, as did Blake Swihart, who had one at-bat after entering the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Great night for the Sox in every facet of the game.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Yankees will meet for the rubber match Sunday night. David Price is set to get the ball for Boston opposite Luis Severino. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET.
