The Boston Red Sox seem to love ruining the plans of playoff-bound teams.
The Red Sox earned an emphatic 5-1 win Monday over the New York Yankees, who are battling the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League East pennant and could be knocked out of the playoff race entirely with a bad finish. Eduardo Rodriguez enjoyed a solid start in his last outing of the season, and the bullpen was able to hold down the win for him.
Boston now has won four straight and given up just one run over 38 innings since Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Let’s see how Monday’s victory unfolded.
GAME IN A WORD
Chess.
Neither team was putting many runners on base in the early innings, and when they did, Rodriguez and Yankees starting Ivan Nova were pitching themselves out of trouble. It was a back-and-forth of strategic moves until Boston really broke the game open in the seventh.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Jackie Bradley Jr. hit the Red Sox’s second two-run home run to put them up 4-1.
It was a close game, even when Travis Shaw hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to put Boston on top. But JBJ gave the Red Sox some insurance in the seventh, and the Yankees couldn’t catch up.
ON THE BUMP
— Rodriguez had a few hiccups early on, but he’s had a knack for making in-game adjustments and getting himself out of trouble. He gave up the one run in the first inning when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a ground-rule double and Alex Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly, but he limited the damage to keep the lead at one.
Rodriguez even got himself out of a bases-loaded situation in the second by striking out A-Rod to end the inning.
The young lefty ended the night with one run on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts over six solid innings.
— Heath Hembree got Ellsbury to line out for the first out of the seventh before giving up a single and being replaced by Noe Ramirez. Ramirez got A-Rod to ground into a double play to end the inning.
— Matt Barnes came on in the eighth and continued his post-call-up dominance with a 1-2-3 inning. Barnes hasn’t given up a run and has allowed just five hits over eight innings in seven appearances since Sept. 12.
— Robbie Ross Jr. found himself in some hot water with runners on the corners and only one out in the ninth, but he got Ellsbury to fly out and struck out Brett Gardner to end the top half of the frame.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox were in the business of stranding what few baserunners they had early on, but two very timely home runs gave Boston some cushion and handed Rodriguez the win. Travis Shaw hit a two-run go-ahead home run in the top of the sixth, and Jackie Bradley Jr. added another two-run shot in the very next frame.
Shaw finished the night 3-for-4, while JBJ went 1-for-2.
— Deven Marrero hit his first major league home run in the top of the ninth, sending a solo shot to right field to put the Sox ahead 5-1.
— Mookie Betts started the game off with a ground-rule double and added another in the ninth, going 2-for-5 on the night.
— Xander Bogaerts added a double in the sixth that set up Shaw’s homer. The shortstop went 2-for-4 after hitting a single in the eighth.
— Blake Swihart singled in the seventh before Bradley’s home run, going 1-for-4.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Yeah, he did that.
[tweet https://twitter.com/ktsharp/status/648675490769846272 align=’center’]
UP NEXT
The Red Sox continue their four-game set in the Bronx with another 7:05 p.m. matchup against the Yankees. Rick Porcello will take the mound for Boston and go head-to-head with Michael Pineda.
Thumbnail photo via Gregory J. Fisher/USA TODAY Sports Images
