The American League East now is tied up.
Thanks to a pair of solo home runs from Giancarlo Stanton, the New York Yankees claimed their series opener against the Boston Red Sox with a 3-2 victory at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday evening. The East now is tied up between the two sides as a result.
With the game tied at two in the seventh inning, Aaron Judge knocked in an RBI single to plate the go-ahead — and ultimately decisive — run.
The Red Sox fall to 25-10 with the loss, while the Yankees climb to 25-10.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Classic.
The game was a classic Red Sox-Yankees matchup. It was a long, close contest, with one nail-biting inning after another taking place.
ON THE BUMP
— Drew Pomeranz delivered his best start of the season, allowing a pair of runs on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks over six innings.
Both of the runs Pomeranz surrendered came on solo shots from Stanton in the second and fourth inning, respectively. Dingers aside, Pomeranz mostly worked his way through New York’s lineup with minimal trouble.
There was a scare in the second inning, however, as the fingernail of Pomeranz’s throwing hand was bloodied. The lefty signaled for the trainer and got some attention for a few moments, but proceeded to throw a couple of pitches to ensure he was fine. He finished the inning — and the ensuing four frames — without any further noticeable issue with the hand.
The southpaw pitched 1-2-3 frames in the first and third inning.
— Heath Hembree came on in the seventh and got himself into trouble. The righty allowed a one-out double to Neil Walker before walking Gleyber Torres. He then moved the runners over to second and third by balking, before walking Brett Gardner to load the bases and spell the end of his night.
— Joe Kelly came in with one out and the bases loaded and managed to limit the damage. The righty allowed Walker to score on a single to left by Judge to make it 3-2. On the Judge single, however, Torres tried to score from second and was thrown out at home. With two outs, Didi Gregorius hit a chopper back to Kelly for the final out of the frame.
Kelly recorded two outs in the eighth before being replaced by Carson Smith with a runner on first.
— Smith struck out Miguel Andujar to end the eighth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox had their struggles against Yankees starter Luis Severino, with the 24-year-old striking out every Sox hitter except Hanley Ramirez at least once. He allowed six hits and two runs while striking out 11 over six-plus innings.
Boston strung a few hits together in the early going but never pieced enough together to allow them to score. But that changed in the fifth, when they cut New York’s 2-0 lead in half.
Eduardo Nunez struck out to lead off the inning but reached first on a dropped third strike. After Severino struck out the next two batters, Mookie Betts kept the inning alive with a two-out single. Andrew Benintendi then laced a single up the middle to plate Nunez and move Betts to third. Ramirez, however, grounded out to end the inning, stranding runners and second and third.
— In the seventh, the Red Sox tied the game up thanks to some timely hitting from Betts.
After Nunez stole second base with two outs, Betts clubbed a line drive to left field. Gardner misjudged the ball and it went past him and to the wall, scoring Nunez while allowing Betts to reach with a standup triple to tie the game at two apiece. Severino had allowed Nunez to reach before being lifted for David Robertson, so the run was charged to him.
— Betts and Nunez led the Sox with a pair of hits each.
— Benintendi, Ramirez, J.D. Martinez and Christian Vazquez all recorded one hit.
— Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and Jackie Bradley Jr. each went hitless.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Lots of Red Sox fans’ moods.
UP NEXT
The two sides will meet Tuesday night for the second contest of the three-game set. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is set for 7:05 p.m. ET. Rick Porcello will get the ball and will be opposed by Masahiro Tanaka.
