Final, Red Sox 13-9: Craig Breslow recorded the final two outs of the day, and the Red Sox have taken the first three games of the series.
The Red Sox’ offense once again put on a show. Boston banged out 14 hits, including four home runs, en route to a 13-9 win. The Sox have now scored 54 runs over the last four games, and you know the offense is rolling when it’s scoring runs for John Lackey.
Lackey needed the runs, too, as he wasn’t his sharpest Saturday. The right-hander was charged with seven earned runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of work. He struck out six and walked three while throwing 105 pitches (71 strikes).
Mike Napoli started and ended the scoring Saturday. He drilled a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead, and then launched a solo blast in the ninth inning to give Boston a little more breathing room.
Jonny Gomes and Xander Bogaerts also homered for the Red Sox. Bogaerts’ homer, which was an absolute shot over the bullpens in left field, was the first of his major league career.
Good night, everyone.
The Red Sox will look to complete the four-game sweep Sunday. They’ll send Jon Lester to the hill to take on Hiroki Kuroda. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.
4:35 p.m., Red Sox 13-9: Junichi Tazawa walked Lyle Overbay with one out in the ninth inning, and John Farrell will now take advantage of his lefty-laden bullpen. He’s turning to Craig Breslow with Ichiro Suzuki coming up.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 13-9: Mike Napoli has gone deep again.
Napoli sent a solo homer sailing over the left field fence in the ninth inning to give the Red Sox a little more breathing room. It’s his second home run of the game and third in less than 24 hours.
Will Middlebrooks walked and moved up to second base when Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out, but we’ll head to the last of the ninth with a four-run ballgame.
End 8th, Red Sox 12-9: Junichi Tazawa has struggled recently. He stepped up in the eighth inning.
Tazawa retired Alfonso Soriano and Curtis Granderson to squash the Yankees’ rally.
Soriano popped out to second base, where John McDonald shielded the sun to make the catch on the edge of the outfield grass. Granderson flied out to left field, where Jonny Gomes also battled the sun before making the play.
The Yankees did push across two more runs, though. And given what we’ve seen in this series, anything is possible.
4:07 p.m., Red Sox 12-9: Here come the Yankees.
JR Murphy led off with a single and took second base on a passed ball. Brett Gardner then walked.
Mark Reynolds doubled home both runners with a sharp ground ball down the third base line past a diving Will Middlebrooks.
Robinson Cano flied out for the first out of the inning, and John Farrell will now turn to Junichi Tazawa.
3:58 p.m., Red Sox 12-7: Want to predict what is going to happen next? The MLB PrePlay app allows you to predict every play of every game. By correctly selecting the outcome of every at-bat in real time, you’re able to earn points.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 12-7: Jonny Gomes, who has three hits, including a home run, was plunked in the eighth inning. Oh my!
Don’t be alarmed, though. It was simply a curveball that got away from Brett Marshall, and nothing more.
Gomes, who has now reached four times in this game, was Boston’s only baserunner in the eighth inning. Marshall took care of Xander Bogaerts, Shane Victorino and John McDonald, who entered the game earlier for Dustin Pedroia.
Drake Britton will come back out for another inning of work.
End 7th, Red Sox 12-7: Drake Britton enjoyed a quick, 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.
Eduardo Nunez and Ichiro Suzuki each grounded out, and Lyle Overbay flied out on an eventful play.
Overbay lifted a fly ball to deep left field. Jonny Gomes raced back to make a lunging grab before tumbling onto the warning track. It wasn’t pretty, by any means, but it got the job done. In many ways, it was a microcosm of Gomes’ defense this season.
That’s an important shutdown inning for Britton. The Yankees had a chance to carry over the momentum that they established in the sixth inning, but the rookie southpaw stepped up.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 12-7: Will Middlebrooks’ one-out single went for naught in the seventh inning.
Middlebrooks ripped a base hit through the left side after Mike Napoli grounded out. He then advanced to second base when a pitch briefly got away from catcher Austin Romine.
Brett Marshall squashed any potential damage by striking out Jackie Bradley Jr. and getting Ryan Lavarnway to lift a lazy fly ball to left field.
End 6th, Red Sox 12-7: The Yankees have closed the gap a bit. They scored four runs in the sixth inning before Matt Thornton finally quieted the noise.
Robinson Cano and Alfonso Soriano greeted Thornton with back-to-back singles to score New York’s seventh run.
Curtis Granderson flied out with runners at first and second to end the inning.
It’s worth noting that Derek Jeter was lifted for a pinch runner in the sixth inning. With the Yankees rallying, that could signify that something’s physically wrong with the veteran.
3:26 p.m., Red Sox 12-6: The Yankees are making noise in the sixth inning.
John Lackey walked Eduardo Nunez and Ichiro Suzuki. In between, he struck out Lyle Overbay.
Lackey induced the ground ball that he needed with one out, but it wasn’t hit hard enough for the Red Sox to turn a double play. Mike Napoli tossed to second base for the first out, but Xander Bogaerts ate it upon realizing that he had no shot at throwing out pinch-hitter JR Murphy at first base.
Murphy took second base on a defensive indifference, and Brett Gardner drove in two runs with a double down the left field line.
Derek Jeter gave New York its sixth run with one of his patented inside-out swings. He sent an RBI single into right field to score Gardner.
John Farrell will now turn to Matt Thornton with two outs in the sixth inning.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 12-3: The Red Sox were kept off the scoreboard for the first time since the first inning in the sixth.
Jonny Gomes’ solid effort continued, as he reached via an infield single. Gomes hit a ground ball into the hole that Derek Jeter got in front of. The shortstop’s throw to first was off the mark, though, and Gomes was credited with a single given the play’s degree of difficulty.
Dustin Pedroia flied out to the warning track for the first out, and David Ortiz grounded into the always eventful 3-6-1 double play to end the inning.
End 5th, Red Sox 12-3: Xander Bogaerts decided to follow up his first big league homer with an excellent defensive play.
Robinson Cano hit a ground ball in the middle of the infield. Bogaerts charged it, made a barehanded play and fired a dart to first base to throw out Cano.
Alfonso Soriano struck out swinging and Curtis Granderson grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 12-3: Brett Marshall struck out Shane Victorino to end the inning, but Xander Bogaerts’ first big league home run added another highlight to an incredible series for the Red Sox.
It’ll be interesting to see exactly how far Bogaerts’ homer traveled. It got out in a hurry.
2:52 p.m., Red Sox 12-3: Xander Bogaerts just hit his first major league home run. And it was an absolute shot.
Bogaerts crushed a two-run homer over the visitors’ bullpen in left field to increase the Red Sox’ lead to 12-3.
Consider it the first of many for the X-Man.
End 4th, Red Sox 10-3: The Yankees keeping tossing up one run at a time.
Eduardo Nunez hit a ball to right field that shot past Shane Victorino and to the wall. Nunez ended up with a leadoff double, and he took third base when Lyle Overbay grounded out.
Ichiro Suzuki made it 10-3 when he, too, doubled to right field.
John Lackey hit Brett Gardner in the foot with two outs in the fourth inning, but he avoided any further damage by striking out Derek Jeter.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 10-2: The Red Sox added two more runs after Jim Miller relieved David Huff, and Boston now has a commanding lead.
Jonny Gomes, who drilled a three-run homer in the third inning, added his fourth RBI in the fourth. He managed to get the sweet spot on a high fastball and drove it into center field for an RBI single.
Dustin Pedroia followed with another double down the left field line, and David Ortiz plated Gomes from third base with a sacrifice fly to the edge of the warning track in center field.
The Red Sox posted five runs total in the fourth inning.
2:20 p.m., Red Sox 8-2: The Red Sox’ offense just keeps on rolling.
Will Middlebrooks and Jackie Bradley Jr. started the fourth inning with back-to-back singles, and Ryan Lavarnway followed with an RBI double into the left-center field gap. Middlebrooks scored and Bradley stopped at third.
Xander Bogaerts knocked in Bradley with a ground ball up the middle. Robinson Cano made the play behind the second base bag for the first out of the inning.
Shane Victorino took advantage of the remaining duck on the pond. He drove in Lavarnway with a double into the left field corner.
Joe Girardi will now make a pitching change with one out and the Red Sox threatening for even more. Jim Miller will take over for David Huff.
End 3rd, Red Sox 5-2: There’s been no shortage of runs in this series. The Yankees added a point in the third inning to pull within three.
Brett Gardner led off with a ground ball through the left side. Xander Bogaerts ranged into the hole, but the ball sneaked under his glove for a single.
Gardner moved up a station when John Lackey delivered a pitch in the dirt that resulted in a wild pitch. He advanced to third base when Derek Jeter grounded out to first base.
Robinson Cano knocked in Gardner with a single that dropped in front of Jonny Gomes in left field. Cano has really been the one constant all season for New York.
Alfonso Soriano flied out to right field and Curtis Granderson struck out swinging to end the inning.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 5-1:Â Christmas has come early for John Lackey. He now has five runs of support after Jonny Gomes launched a three-run homer in the third inning.
Xander Bogaerts led off with a double down the left field line. Shane Victorino looked to bunt him over, but after a few failed attempts, Victorino was hit by a pitch — again.
Gomes jumped all over a first-pitch changeup from David Huff. He sent it a mile into the air, and when it landed, it did so in the left field seats for Gomes’ 12th home run of 2013.
David Ortiz looked to add a long ball of his own, but his fly ball down the right field line stayed in the yard. Ichiro Suzuki made a great leaping grab before banging into the wall.
End 2nd, Red Sox 2-1: The Yankees answered Mike Napoli’s two-run homer with a run of their own in the second inning.
Alfonso Soriano walked on eight pitches to get things going. John Lackey jumped ahead in the count, but he missed with his last two pitches to put Soriano on base.
Soriano moved up to second base when Curtis Granderson dropped down a bunt. It was a good bunt, and John Lackey had to make a nice play while charging off the mound just to retire Granderson at first base.
Lackey struck out Eduardo Nunez swinging to put himself on the verge of escaping the frame. Lyle Overbay dropped a two-out single into right-center field, though, and Soriano scored from second base.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 2-0: Mike Napoli wasted no time flexing his muscle again in this game.
Napoli jacked a two-run homer into the left field seats in the second inning to give the Red Sox an early 2-0 edge.
David Ortiz set the table with a leadoff double into the right-center field gap. Ichiro Suzuki raced back and leaped, but the ball sailed beyond his reach and landed near the base of the wall.
Napoli got the green light in a 3-0 count, and why not? He reached base five times in Friday’s win, during which he also smacked a game-tying grand slam in the eighth inning. Napoli got a fastball from David Huff, and he licked his chops and feasted.
Huff retired the next three hitters in order, but Boston has already provided John Lackey with more run support than he’s accustomed to seeing.
End 1st, 0-0: John Lackey got off to a nice start in the first inning.
Lackey needed just eight pitches to retire the side in order. Five were thrown to Robinson Cano, who struck out looking on a fastball down in the strike zone to end the inning.
Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter both grounded out to shortstop Xander Bogaerts before Cano went down by way of the K.
The first inning was a quick one, which is shocking given how these Red Sox-Yankees games usually go.
Mid 1st, 0-0: David Huff, a first-round pick in 2006, is making his first start with the Yankees. He was impressive in the first inning.
Huff struck out Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes to begin the game. The 29-year-old features mostly a fastball-changeup mix, and it served him well against the first two Boston hitters. Victorino and Gomes both went down swinging on changeups.
Dustin Pedroia grounded out to his second base counterpart to end the inning.
Huff is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings scattered over six relief appearances with the Yankees. He was selected off waivers from Cleveland back in May after struggling through parts of five seasons with the Indians.
1:07 p.m.: David Huff’s first pitch to Shane Victorino is a strike.
12:20 a.m.: It’s unclear how long Jacoby Ellsbury will be out. But the news doesn’t sound good.
Ellsbury was sent back to Boston to have his right foot examined, and an MRI revealed swelling and inflammation. He’ll now head to Denver for a second opinion and, as John Farrell noted, it’s likely that this is more than just a day-to-day issue.
Farrell said that Ellsbury’s injury — which the outfielder suffered while fouling a ball off his foot on Aug. 28 and aggravated while stealing second base on Thursday — is to the navicular bone. Dustin Pedroia broke the same bone in 2010, and he missed a majority of the final two months that year.
11:18 a.m.: Jacoby Ellsbury has been sent back to Boston to have his right foot examined. According to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, Ellsbury left in a walking boot.
11:08 a.m.: For those curious, Jackie Bradley Jr. will wear No. 25 this time around with Jake Peavy wearing No. 44.
11 a.m.: The PawSox are in the middle of a playoff series, but the Red Sox’ postseason push takes precedence. Because of such, Jackie Bradley Jr. has been called up from Triple-A.
Bradley will play center field Saturday as Jacoby Ellsbury continues to deal with a foot injury. He’ll bat seventh, while Ryan Lavarnway and Xander Bogaerts will round out the starting nine. Shane Victorino will once again bat leadoff in Ellsbury’s absence, but he’ll play right field this time around.
Saturday’s complete lineups are below.
Red Sox (86-57)Shane Victorino, RF
Jonny Gomes, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Xander Bogaerts, SS
John Lackey, RHP (8-12, 3.22 ERA)
Yankees (75-66)
Brett Gardner, CF
Derek Jeter, SS
Robinson Cano, 2B
Alfonso Soriano, LF
Curtis Granderson, DH
Eduardo Nunez, 3B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Austin Romine, C
David Huff, RHP (2-0, 3.32 ERA)
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox have scored 41 runs over the last three games. Surely, John Lackey is saying, “Save some for me, guys.”
Lackey will take the hill on the heels of three big offensive performances by the Red Sox, who have now won 11 of their last 13, including two straight versus the Yankees. The right-hander hasn’t gotten run support this season, so you can bet that his teammates would love to help him out Saturday in the Bronx.
The Red Sox once again won in dramatic fashion Friday, as they overcame an 8-3 deficit in the seventh inning to earn a 12-8 victory. With the Rays ultimately losing Friday, Boston’s lead in the AL East is now 7 1/2 games. The Red Sox are a season-high 29 games above .500.
Lackey will got up against David Huff on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
